Linking plant genes to arthropod community dynamics: current progress and future challenges.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Genetics
• Evolutionary Biology

Background:

• Plant genetic variation influences arthropod communities.
• Genomic resources enable studying genome-wide plant variation effects on associated communities.
• Previous research focused on coarse-grain variation, but recent studies use genomic data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To highlight the role of plant genomic variation in driving arthropod communities.
• To identify challenges and propose future research directions.
• To advocate for integrating genomic tools with hierarchical models of species communities (HMSCs).

Main Methods:

• Leveraging genomic resources to study genome-wide plant variation.
• Utilizing field common gardens and lab-based mesocosm experiments.
• Proposing the application of genomic prediction models.

Main Results:

• Plant genomic variation demonstrably influences arthropod communities in natural ecosystems.
• Candidate genes with significant effects on arthropod communities have been identified.
• Hierarchical models of species communities (HMSCs) offer potential for understanding and predicting community dynamics.

Conclusions:

• Integrating genomic tools with HMSCs is essential for advancing ecological understanding and prediction.
• Genomic prediction models can explore the genetic architecture of arthropod community phenotypes.
• Future research requires interdisciplinary collaboration to build predictive models of plant genetic and arthropod community change.