The demise of enemy release associated with the invasion of specialist folivores on an invasive tree
Data files
Feb 15, 2024 version files 54.44 GB
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Ecography_script.zip
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Medzihorsky_eal_2024_Raw_data.xlsx
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README.md
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robinia_scans.zip
Abstract
There is a long history of humans either intentionally or accidentally moving plant species to areas outside of their native ranges. In novel environments, populations of many of these plant species exhibit explosive population growth and spread, in part due to the absence of coevolved enemies such as herbivorous insects. However, over time such enemies can “catch-up” with their host and re-establish host-herbivore relationships. Though this phenomenon has been documented in several systems, little evidence exists on how this re-assembly of enemies results in increased levels of herbivory. In this study we focus on the case of black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia), a sparsely populated tree species when growing on undisturbed sites in its limited native range in the eastern United States but a highly invasive species, especially in disturbed environments, in most temperate world regions. We recorded folivore damage on invasive populations in five continents, including both native and invaded portions of North America. Here, we investigated i) how total foliage damage and damage caused by different groups of folivores differs among regions; ii) how seasonal development of folivore damage differs among regions; iii) how folivory varies with distance from the native range within North America; and iv) how the number of recorded specialist folivores correlates with the amount of folivory. We observed strong differences among regions in the amount and type of folivore damage, with the native range experiencing the highest damage, especially that caused by the native chrysomelid beetle Odontota dorsalis, which is limited to the native and invaded North American range of R. pseudoacacia. Among world regions, total folivory is negatively associated with the distance from the native range and positively associated with the number of established R. pseudoacacia specialist folivore species, supporting the hypothesis that global patterns of herbivore invasions are associated with diminished enemy release.
README: The demise of enemy release associated with the invasion of specialist folivores on an invasive tree
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.8sf7m0cww
Description of the data and file structure
- **Ecography_script.zip - **R script of used statistical analyses with corresponding CSV files.
- **Medzihorsky_eal_2024_Raw_data.xlsx – **MS Excel file of leaf damage estimates for every location.
Variables:
CountryII: CA - Canada; CZ – Czech Republic; JP – Japan; US – USA invaded range of Robinia pseudoacacia; US* - USA native range of R. pseudoacacia; NZ – New Zealand, SA – South Africa
Locality: name of closest city/town to sampled locality
Year: year of sampling
Date: date of samling; DD_MM_YY
date_ID: number of the day in the year (1 - 365); integer
date_ID_comp: number of the day in the year with correction for Southern Hemisphere (applies only for New Zealand and South African localities); date_ID + 183; after exceeding 365 starts from 1)
Tree: number of the tree on locality; integer
Leaf: number of the leaf on the tree; integer
ID_tree: identification code of a tree; CountryII + Locality + Year + Tree
ID_tree_date: ID_tree + date_ID_comp
ID_leaf: identification code of a leaf; ID_tree_date + Leaf
No_leaflets: number of leaflets on the samled leaf; integer
TDA: total damaged area; sum of recorded damage by different groups of folivores; expressed in %
Freefeeders: damage by free feeding folivores; expressed in %
Skelotonizers: damage by skeletonizers; expressed in %
Other_leafminers: damage by other leafmining insects; expressed in %
Odontota_lar: leaf-mining damage by larval Odontota dorsalis; expressed in %
Gallmakers: damage by galling insects; expressed in %
- **Robinia_scans.zip – **photographic material of leaves evaluated for this study.
Robinia_scans. zip contains photographic material of R. pseudoacacia leaves which were evaluated for damage and recorded into the Medzihorsky_eal_2024_Raw_data.xlsx MS Excel file. The data was pivoted and used for statistical analyses using the scripts in Ecography_script.zip. All the information on packages used are in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript. Coordinates of the localities are listed in the Supporting Information.
Code/Software
All data preparation and analyses were performed using the R language and packages and described in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript.