Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30200936›Full record

ArticleBMC ecology2018

A random survival forest illustrates the importance of natural enemies compared to host plant quality on leaf beetle survival rates.

Thomas A Verschut, Peter A Hambäck

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMC ecology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 28% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Thomas A VerschutDepartment of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. thomas.verschut@su.se.ORCID 0000-0003-0130-6485
Peter A HambäckDepartment of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences, Stockholm University, 106 91, Stockholm, Sweden.ORCID 0000-0001-6362-6199
Stockholm University · SE

Funding

Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences BS2015-0063Vetenskapsrådet VR-2009-4943Vetenskapsrådet VR-2012-3578
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundWetlands are habitats where variation in soil moisture content and associated environmental conditions can strongly affect the survival of herbivorous insects by changing host plant quality and natural enemy densities. In this study, we combined natural enemy exclusion experiments with random survival forest analyses to study the importance of local variation in host plant quality and predation by natural enemies on the egg and larval survival of the leaf beetle Galerucella sagittariae along a soil moisture gradient.

resultsOur results showed that the exclusion of natural enemies substantially increased the survival probability of G. sagittariae eggs and larvae. Interestingly, the egg survival probability decreased with soil moisture content, while the larval survival probability instead increased with soil moisture content. For both the egg and larval survival, we found that host plant height, the number of eggs or larvae, and vegetation height explained more of the variation than the soil moisture gradient by itself. Moreover, host plant quality related variables, such as leaf nitrogen, carbon and phosphorus content did not influence the survival of G. sagittariae eggs and larvae.

conclusionOur results suggest that the soil moisture content is not an overarching factor that determines the interplay between factors related to host plant quality and factors relating to natural enemies on the survival of G. sagittariae in different microhabitats. Moreover, the natural enemy exclusion experiments and the random survival forest analysis suggest that natural enemies have a stronger indirect impact on the survival of G. sagittariae offspring than host plant quality.

Indexed as

Food ChainHerbivoryLongevityAnimalsColeopteraHumidityLarvaModels, BiologicalOvumPredatory BehaviorSoilSoilGalerucella sagittariaeHost selectionLeaf nutrientsNatural enemyOvipositionParasitismPredationRandom survival forestWetlands

Identifiers

PMID30200936
PMCPMC6131828
OpenAlexW2890434301

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.