Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory
Cite this dataset
Wetzel, William et al. (2023). Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory [Dataset]. Dryad. https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.44j0zpckm
Abstract
Interactions between plants and herbivores are central in most ecosystems, but their strength is highly variable. The amount of variability within a system is thought to influence most aspects of plant-herbivore biology, from ecological stability to plant defense evolution. Our understanding of what influences variability, however, is limited by sparse data. We collected standardized surveys of herbivory for 503 plant species at 790 sites across 116° of latitude. With these data, we show that within-population variability in herbivory increases with latitude, decreases with plant size, and is phylogenetically structured. Differences in the magnitude of variability are thus central to how plant-herbivore biology varies across macroscale gradients. We argue that increased focus on interaction variability will advance understanding of patterns of life on Earth.
README: Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory
This dataset and set of scripts was produced by the members of The Herbivory Variability Network. It examines global and phylogenetic patterns of herbivory via 790 suveys of 503 plant species.
Our website is herbvar.org. We are funded by the US National Science Foundation Research Coordination Networks program. The Principal Investigators (PIs) of the project are William Wetzel (william.wetzel@montana.edu), Phil Hahn, Brian Inouye, Nora Underwood, and Susan Whitehead. The steering committee is the PIs and Karen Abbott, Emilio Bruna, N. Ivalú Cacho, and Lee Dyer. Our contact information is here. For the full list of HerbVar members, please see this webpage.
This version of the dataset and analysis is associated with the following paper: The Herbivory Variability Network et al. 2023. Plant size, latitude, and phylogeny explain within-population variability in herbivory. Science 382: 679-683. https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adh8830
Description of the data and file structure
There are three csv data files in the dataset. Each represents a different biological scale: plant individuals, plant populations, and plant species.
data_plant_level_prep_2023-01-01 10-15-19.csv -- each row is a plant individual
data_survey_level_prep_2023-01-01 10-15-19.csv -- each row is a plant population
data_species_level_prep_2023-01-01 10-15-19.csv -- each row is a plant species
Column name definitions
data_plant_level_prep_2023-01-01 10-15-19.csv
| Col name | Definition |
|---|---|
| surveyID | ID for the population survey |
| Genus_sp | Genus and species of the plant surveyed |
| plantFamily | Taxonomic family of the plant species |
| percHerbPlant | The percent of leaf area damaged by herbivores (%) |
| Lat | The latitude of the survey site (decimal degrees) |
data_survey_level_prep_2023-01-01 10-15-19.csv
| Col name | Definition |
|---|---|
| surveyID | ID for the population survey |
| date | The date of the survey (month/day/year) |
| Lat | The latitude of the survey site |
| Lat_abs | The absolute value of the latitude of the survey site (decimal degrees) |
| Lat_abs_scale | The scaled absolute value of the latitude of the survey site (decimal degrees) |
| hemi | The hemisphere of the survey site (north or south) |
| Genus_sp | Genus and species of the plant surveyed |
| plantFamily | Taxonomic family of the plant species |
| Biome | The biome of the survey site |
| growthForm | The growth form of the plant species |
| growthForm_simp | A simplified version of the growth form of the plant species |
| sizeDiameterMean | The mean height for most plant species or mean diameter for prostrate species (cm) |
| sizeDiameterMeanLog | Log of sizeDiameterMean |
| sizeDiameterMeanLogScale | Scaled log of sizeDiameterMean |
| plantMean | The mean percent herbivory in the survey (%) |
| plantMeanProp | The mean proportion herbivory in the survey |
| plantMeanPropLogit | The logit mean proportion herbivory in the survey |
| plantGini | The Gini coefficient of herbivory in the survey |
| plantGiniAdj | The adjusted Gini coefficient of herbivory in the survey (see methods) |
| plantGiniAdjLogit | The logit adjusted Gini coefficient of herbivory in the survey (see methods) |
| propPlantsHerb50 | The minimum proportion of plant individuals with >= 50% of the population's proportion herbivory |
| focalPlantCoverMean | The average cover of the focal plant species within the survey |
data_species_level_prep_2023-01-01 10-15-19.csv
| Col name | Definition |
|---|---|
| Genus_sp | Genus and species of the plant surveyed |
| plantFamily | Taxonomic family of the plant species |
| plantMean | The mean percent herbivory averaged across the surveys of each species (%) |
| plantMeanProp | The mean proportion herbivory averaged across the surveys of each species |
| plantMeanPropLogit | The logit mean proportion herbivory averaged across the surveys of each species |
| plantGini | The Gini coefficient of herbivory averaged across the surveys of each species |
| plantGiniAdj | The adjusted Gini coefficient of herbivory averaged across the surveys of each species (see methods) |
| plantGiniAdjLogit | The logit adjusted Gini coefficient of herbivory averaged across the surveys of each species (see methods) |
Code/Software
Our analysis scripts are also available at our public GitHub repository for this paper. It includes six R scripts.
| Script | Purpose |
|---|---|
| 01 - HV MS1 Load data and build tree.R | Loads the data files, builds the phylogenetic tree, and sets priors for all beta models |
| 02 - HV MS1 Overall means.R | Calculates model predicted means for mean herbivory and the Gini coefficient of herbivory, plus one more summary statistic |
| 03 - HV MS1 Geographic analyses.R | Models geographic patterns in herbivory means and the Gini coefficient, including with latitude and biome |
| 04 - HV MS1 Plant trait analyses.R | Models patterns in herbivory with plant size and plant growth form |
| 05 - HV MS1 Phylogenetic signal.R | Calculates phylogenetic signal in mean herbivory and the Gini coefficient |
| 06 - HV MS1 Sensitivity analyses.R | This script examines the sensitivity of our results to within-survey sample size |
Funding
National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka, Award: DEB 2203582
National Science Foundation, Award: DEB1557086
National Science Foundation, Award: DEB-1456592
National Science Foundation, Award: DEB-1831164
National Science Foundation, Award: DMS- 2304988
Earthwatch Institute
Natural Environment Research Council, Award: NE/P012345/1
Agence Nationale de la Recherche
São Paulo Research Foundation, Award: 2022/07381-9
National University of La Pampa
São Paulo Research Foundation, Award: 2013/25991-0
Swiss National Science Foundation, Award: 310030E-173542/1
DFG, Award: SP 1380/2-1
Canada Research Chair Program
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Award: 18J00093
Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Award: 22K15188
FONDECYT, Award: 1190927
Swiss National Science Foundation, Award: 31003A_179481
FONDECYT, Award: 11181100
National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Award: 312178/2019-0
Israel Science Foundation, Award: 336/16
FONDECYT, Award: 11220233
Academy of Finland, Award: 324392
Irish Research Council, Award: 2017/2018 IRCLA/2017/60
McIntire Stennis project, Award: MD-ENTM-19001
Postdoctoral Fulbright
Argentinian ministry
National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Award: 307447/2018-9
Instituto de Ecología
Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement
National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Award: 441573/2020-7 [PELD-RAS]
National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, Award: 406767/2022-0 [INCT SinBiAm]
DFG Priority Program Program 1374
Texas Ecological Laboratory
Royal Society University Research Fellowship
Turku Collegium for Science, Medicine and Technology
United States Department of Agriculture, Award: WIS01842, McIntire-Stennis
Texas Ecological Laboratory
Texas Ecological Laboratory, Stengl-Wyer Fellowship
Grant ANID PIA/BASAL, Award: FB210006
Agencia Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo, Award: NCN2021‐050
Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation and EU, Award: FJC2020-042954-I
US Forest Service
University of Pittsburgh, The Mathematical Research Center