Phenological Variation in the Composition of a Temperate Forest Leaf Tie Community

Sigmon, Elisha; Lill, John T.

doi:10.1603/en12064

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…As the season progresses and existing ties become skeletonized from feeding, there may be a lack of suitable sites where uneaten leaves overlap and can be made into additional ties. As a result, the density of occupants inside leaf ties increases over the course of the season (Sigmon & Lill, 2013), as caterpillars become limited by the availability of sites for building shelters.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Caterpillars pull together overlapping leaves and fasten them together with silk to create leaf ties, a type of shelter that serves as room and board for the developing insects (Lill & Marquis, 2007). On white oak trees, these ties are secondarily colonized by other leaf-tying caterpillars as well as over 100 species of arthropods, including aphids, psocids, Asiatic oak weevils, rove beetles, thrips, and collembolans (Lill & Marquis, 2004; Sigmon & Lill, 2013). Leaf ties offer many potential advantages to residents, including protection from predators and harsh climatic conditions (Lill & Marquis, 2007), and the presence of leaf ties on a tree has been shown experimentally to increase arthropod abundance and species richness (Lill & Marquis, 2003; Lill & Marquis, 2004; Wang, Marquis & Baer, 2012).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties?

Sliwinski

Sigmon

2013

PeerJ

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Leaf-tying caterpillars act as ecosystem engineers by building shelters between overlapping leaves, which are inhabited by other arthropods. Leaf-tiers have been observed to leave their ties and create new shelters (and thus additional microhabitats), but the ecological factors affecting shelter fidelity are poorly known. For this study, we explored the effects of resource limitation and occupant density on shelter fidelity and assessed the consequences of shelter abandonment. We first quantified the area of leaf material required for a caterpillar to fully develop for two of the most common leaf-tiers that feed on white oak, Quercus alba. On average, Psilocorsis spp. caterpillars consumed 21.65 ± 0.67 cm2 leaf material to complete development. We also measured the area of natural leaf ties found in a Maryland forest, to determine the distribution of resources available to caterpillars in situ. Of 158 natural leaf ties examined, 47% were too small to sustain an average Psilocorsis spp. caterpillar for the entirety of its development. We also manipulated caterpillar densities within experimental ties on potted trees to determine the effects of cohabitants on the likelihood of a caterpillar to leave its tie. We placed 1, 2, or 4 caterpillars in ties of a standard size and monitored the caterpillars twice daily to track their movement. In ties with more than one occupant, caterpillars showed a significantly greater propensity to leave their tie, and left sooner and at a faster rate than those in ties as single occupants. To understand the consequences of leaf tie abandonment, we observed caterpillars searching a tree for a site to build a shelter in the field. This is a risky behavior, as 17% of the caterpillars observed died while searching for a shelter site. Caterpillars that successfully built a shelter traveled 110 ± 20 cm and took 28 ± 7 min to find a suitable site to build a shelter. In conclusion, leaf-tying caterpillars must frequently abandon their leaf tie due to food limitation and interactions with other caterpillars, but this is a costly behavior.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties?

Sliwinski

Sigmon

2013

PeerJ

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“…There are few comparable studies exploring temporal variation in engineering insects. Sigmon & Lill (2013) explored leaf-tying caterpillars and associated arthropod community within ties on oak and birch trees throughout a growing season. They found that caterpillar and arthropod density per tie increased on both tree species as the season progressed, suggesting the intra-annual variation may also be important to consider in the study of engineering insects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Local and latitudinal variation in abundance: the mechanisms shaping the distribution of an ecosystem engineer

Crutsinger

Gonzalez

Crawford

et al. 2013

PeerJ

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Ecological processes that determine the abundance of species within ecological communities vary across space and time. These scale-dependent processes are especially important when they affect key members of a community, such as ecosystem engineers that create shelter and food resources for other species. Yet, few studies have examined the suite of processes that shape the abundance of ecosystem engineers. Here, we evaluated the relative influence of temporal variation, local processes, and latitude on the abundance of an engineering insect—a rosette-galling midge, Rhopalomyia solidaginis (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae). Over a period of 3–5 years, we studied the density and size of galls across a suite of local experiments that manipulated genetic variation, soil nutrient availability, and the removal of other insects from the host plant, Solidago altissima (tall goldenrod). We also surveyed gall density within a single growing season across a 2,300 km latitudinal transect of goldenrod populations in the eastern United States. At the local scale, we found that host-plant genotypic variation was the best predictor of rosette gall density and size within a single year. We found that the removal of other insect herbivores resulted in an increase in gall density and size. The amendment of soil nutrients for four years had no effect on gall density, but galls were smaller in carbon-added plots compared to control and nitrogen additions. Finally, we observed that gall density varied several fold across years. At the biogeographic scale, we observed that the density of rosette gallers peaked at mid-latitudes. Using meta-analytic approaches, we found that the effect size of time, followed by host-plant genetic variation and latitude were the best predictors of gall density. Taken together, our study provides a unique comparison of multiple factors across different spatial and temporal scales that govern engineering insect herbivore density.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Peer Review #1 of "Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties? (v0.1)"

2013

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Leaf-tying caterpillars act as ecosystem engineers by building shelters between overlapping leaves, which are inhabited by other arthropods. Leaf-tiers have been observed to leave their ties and create new shelters (and thus additional microhabitats), but the ecological factors affecting shelter fidelity are poorly known. For this study, we explored the effects of resource limitation and occupant density on shelter fidelity and assessed the consequences of shelter abandonment. We first quantified the area of leaf material required for a caterpillar to fully develop for two of the most common leaf-tiers that feed on white oak, Quercus alba. On average, Psilocorsis spp. caterpillars consumed 21.65 ± 0.67 cm 2 leaf material to complete development. We also measured the area of natural leaf ties found in a Maryland forest, to determine the distribution of resources available to caterpillars in situ. Of 158 natural leaf ties examined, 47% were too small to sustain an average Psilocorsis spp. caterpillar for the entirety of its development. We also manipulated caterpillar densities within experimental ties on potted trees to determine the effects of cohabitants on the likelihood of a caterpillar to leave its tie. We placed 1, 2, or 4 caterpillars in ties of a standard size and monitored the caterpillars twice daily to track their movement. In ties with more than one occupant, caterpillars showed a significantly greater propensity to leave their tie, and left sooner and at a faster rate than those in ties as single occupants. To understand the consequences of leaf tie abandonment, we observed caterpillars searching a tree for a site to build a shelter in the field. This is a risky behavior, as 17% of the caterpillars observed died while searching for a shelter site. Caterpillars that successfully built a shelter traveled 110 ± 20 cm and took 28 ± 7 min to find a suitable site to build a shelter. In conclusion, leaf-tying caterpillars must frequently abandon their leaf tie due to food limitation and interactions with other caterpillars, but this is a costly behavior.

show abstract

Phenological Variation in the Composition of a Temperate Forest Leaf Tie Community

Cited by 7 publications

References 45 publications

Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties?

Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties?

Local and latitudinal variation in abundance: the mechanisms shaping the distribution of an ecosystem engineer

Peer Review #1 of "Why do leaf-tying caterpillars abandon their leaf ties? (v0.1)"

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