Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39453448›Full record

ArticleOecologia2024

Relationships between abiotic factors, foliage chemistry and herbivory in a tropical montane ecosystem.

Alejandro de la Fuente, Kara N Youngentob, Karen J Marsh, Andrew K Krockenberger, Stephen E Williams, Lucas A Cernusak

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Oecologia, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

6 authors.

Alejandro de la FuenteCollege of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia. alejandro.delafuentepinero1@my.jcu.edu.au.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9686-3844
Kara N YoungentobThe Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Karen J MarshResearch School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Andrew K KrockenbergerCollege of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
Stephen E WilliamsCollege of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
Lucas A CernusakCollege of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Herbivore-plant interactions are fundamental processes shaping ecosystems, yet their study is challenged by their complex connections within broader ecosystem processes, requiring a nuanced understanding of ecosystem dynamics. This study investigated the relationship between nutrient availability and insect herbivory in the Australian Wet Tropics. Our objectives were threefold. Firstly, to understand what factors influence nutrient availability for plants and herbivores across the landscape; secondly, to investigate how trees of different species respond to nutrient availability; and thirdly, to unravel how the relationships between resources and plant chemistry affect herbivory. We established a network of 25 study sites covering important abiotic gradients, including temperature, precipitation, and geology. Employing a hierarchical modelling approach, we assessed the influence of climate and geology on resource availability for plants, primarily in the form of soil nutrients. Then, we explored the influence of the above factors on the interaction between herbivory and foliage chemistry across three widespread rainforest tree species, comparing how these relationships emerged across genera. Our findings suggest an overarching influence of climate and geology over soil chemistry, foliar nitrogen, and insect herbivory, both directly and indirectly. However, individual constituents of soil fertility showed equivocal influences on spatial patterns of foliage chemistry once site geological origin was accounted for, suggesting a questionable relationship between individual soil nutrients and foliar composition. We have demonstrated that herbivore-plant interactions are complex dynamics regulated by an intricate web of relationships spanning different biogeochemical processes. While our results provide some support to the notion that herbivory is affected by resource availability, different species growing under the same conditions can show differing responses to the same resources, highlighting the importance of identifying specific limiting factors rather than simpler proxies of resource availability.

Indexed as

EcosystemHerbivorySoilAnimalsAustraliaInsectaNitrogenPlant LeavesTreesTropical ClimateNitrogenSoilBiogeochemical dynamicsBottom-up regulationHerbivore–plant interactionResource availabilityTropical montane ecosystem

Identifiers

PMID39453448
PMCPMC11599541

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.