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Foliar herbivory pushes plant individuals towards the periphery of a plant–floral visitor interaction network.

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Title: Foliar herbivory pushes plant individuals towards the periphery of a plant–floral visitor interaction network.
Authors: Rezende, Luiz1 (AUTHOR), Cosmo, Leandro G.2 (AUTHOR), Romero, Gustavo Q.3 (AUTHOR), Pareja, Martín3 (AUTHOR) mpareja@unicamp.br
Source: Journal of Ecology. Sep2025, Vol. 113 Issue 9, p2414-2428. 15p.
Subjects: Herbivores, Pollinators, Hymenoptera, Lepidoptera, Biotic communities, Tropical forests, Phenotypes
Abstract (English): Indirect interactions are major forces structuring communities. In terrestrial ecosystems, changes in plant traits caused by herbivory have the potential to mediate cascades of indirect interactions that can profoundly affect community structure. We have begun to understand the mechanisms behind indirect effects mediated by trait changes in plants, but we still know little about how these interaction‐level mechanisms affect higher levels of community organization, in particular network structure and how this is dependent on community context.In this study, we aimed to understand how herbivory affects floral traits, flower visitation and the position of plant individuals in a plant–flower visitor network. To do this, we assessed the natural incidence of leaf and flowerhead herbivory in a tropical shrub and tested whether it affects flowerhead density and the interactions between flowers and Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera at the pairwise and network levels. We also tested how the local density of conspecific plants adds context dependency to these interactions by affecting both herbivory and flowerhead visitation in focal plants.Increased leaf herbivory reduced flowerhead density per plant and indirectly reduced flowerhead visitation by Hymenoptera, while for Diptera direct effects of herbivory were important and Lepidoptera were not affected. At the network level, plants with more flowerheads were more connected and central. By reducing flowerhead density, leaf herbivory caused individual plants to lose centrality, becoming less connected and therefore peripheral in the plant–flower visitor network. This dynamic is context dependent as increased plant conspecific local density reduced leaf herbivory in the focal plant and indirectly benefited its flowerhead density, flowerhead visitation and network centrality.Synthesis. We demonstrate how the effects of herbivory on a key plant trait can cascade to shape the interactions between individual plants and their flower visitors and how the indirect effects between herbivores and pollinators can modulate the structure of interaction networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Abstract (Portuguese): Resumo: Nos ecossistemas terrestres, mudanças em atributos das plantas causadas pela herbivoria têm o potencial de mediar cascatas de interações indiretas que podem afetar profundamente a estrutura da comunidade. Nós já começamos a entender os mecanismos envolvidos nos efeitos indiretos mediados por mudanças nos atributos das plantas. Entretanto, ainda sabemos pouco sobre como esses mecanismos no nível da interação afetam níveis maiores da organização da comunidade, em particular, a estrutura da rede de interações, e como essa dinâmica é dependente de contexto.Neste estudo, queremos entender como a herbivoria foliar afeta atributos florais, a visitação floral e a posição dos indivíduos de planta na rede de interação planta‐visitante floral. Para fazer isso, avaliamos a incidência natural de herbivoria foliar e floral em um arbusto tropical e testamos como isso afeta a densidade de inflorescências e a interação das inflorescências com Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, e Diptera tanto a nível par‐a‐par, quanto a nível da rede de interação. Nós também testamos como a densidade local de plantas coespecíficas adiciona dependência de contexto a essas interações ao afetar a herbivoria foliar e floral.O aumento na herbivoria foliar reduziu a densidade de inflorescências por planta e indiretamente reduziu a visitação por Hymenoptera, enquanto para Diptera efeitos diretos da herbivoria foram mais importantes e a visitação por Lepidoptera não foi afetada. A nível da rede de interação, plantas com mais inflorescências foram mais conectadas e centrais. Ao reduzir a densidade de inflorescências, a herbivoria foliar fez com que as plantas perdessem centralidade e se tornassem periféricas na rede de interação com visitantes florais. Entretanto, o aumento na densidade de plantas coespecíficas reduziu a herbivoria foliar e indiretamente beneficiou a densidade de inflorescências, a visitação floral e a centralidade dos indivíduos de planta na rede de interação.Em síntese, demostramos como efeitos da herbivoria em atributos‐chave da planta podem percolar para moldar a interação entre indivíduos de plantas e seus visitantes florais, e como os efeitos indiretos entre herbívoros e polinizadores podem modular a estrutura de redes de interação em ecossistemas baseados em plantas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
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Database: Engineering Source
Description
Abstract:Indirect interactions are major forces structuring communities. In terrestrial ecosystems, changes in plant traits caused by herbivory have the potential to mediate cascades of indirect interactions that can profoundly affect community structure. We have begun to understand the mechanisms behind indirect effects mediated by trait changes in plants, but we still know little about how these interaction‐level mechanisms affect higher levels of community organization, in particular network structure and how this is dependent on community context.In this study, we aimed to understand how herbivory affects floral traits, flower visitation and the position of plant individuals in a plant–flower visitor network. To do this, we assessed the natural incidence of leaf and flowerhead herbivory in a tropical shrub and tested whether it affects flowerhead density and the interactions between flowers and Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera and Diptera at the pairwise and network levels. We also tested how the local density of conspecific plants adds context dependency to these interactions by affecting both herbivory and flowerhead visitation in focal plants.Increased leaf herbivory reduced flowerhead density per plant and indirectly reduced flowerhead visitation by Hymenoptera, while for Diptera direct effects of herbivory were important and Lepidoptera were not affected. At the network level, plants with more flowerheads were more connected and central. By reducing flowerhead density, leaf herbivory caused individual plants to lose centrality, becoming less connected and therefore peripheral in the plant–flower visitor network. This dynamic is context dependent as increased plant conspecific local density reduced leaf herbivory in the focal plant and indirectly benefited its flowerhead density, flowerhead visitation and network centrality.Synthesis. We demonstrate how the effects of herbivory on a key plant trait can cascade to shape the interactions between individual plants and their flower visitors and how the indirect effects between herbivores and pollinators can modulate the structure of interaction networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
ISSN:00220477
DOI:10.1111/1365-2745.70103