宿主植物会影响森林毛毛虫的寄生
J T Lill1, R J Marquis, R E Ricklefs
1Department of Biology, University of Missouri-St. Louis, 63121, USA. lillj@biology2.wustl.edu
Nature
|May 10, 2002
概括
寄生虫,毛虫的敌人,强烈影响昆虫选择的宿主植物. 这种第三层食物级相互作用推动了虫的专业化和虫物种在森林中的多样化.
科学领域:
- 生态生态学 生态生态学
- 进化生物学 进化生物学
- 昆虫学 昆虫学是一门学科.
背景情况:
- 草食植物协会传统上与植物质量 (营养素,防御,表观) 有关.
- 第三个营养水平 (自然敌人) 在塑造草食动物宿主范围演变中的作用是不充分研究的.
- 以前的研究基本上忽视了宿主植物特定敌人的对草食动物分布的影响.
研究的目的:
- 为了研究第三个营养水平对食草动物宿主植物使用的影响.
- 为了确定寄生虫模式是否影响草食宿主范围的进化.
- 探索敌人介导的相互作用在昆虫物种化中的作用.
主要方法:
- 来自加拿大森林昆虫调查的寄生虫养的分析.
- 检查寄生虫-食草动物相互作用中的宿主植物特异性.
- 评估不同类型的甲虫和它们的宿主植物间的寄生模式.
主要成果:
- 虫物种的寄生性在很大程度上取决于宿主植物.
- 寄生性的宿主植物依赖程度在毛虫物种之间有所不同.
- 一些寄生虫物种表现出对特定树木物种的专业化.
结论:
- 宿主植物依赖性寄生虫症表明对草食宿主植物选择的自上而下的影响.
- 寄生虫率的变化可以推动草食群落中专门的宿主植物范围的选择.
- 敌人介导的专业化可能会促进温带森林中的白虫物种的多样化.
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