Higher predation risk for insect prey at low latitudes and elevations

Tomas Roslin*, Bess Hardwick, Vojtech Novotny, William K. Petry, Nigel R. Andrew, Ashley Asmus, Isabel C. Barrio, Yves Basset, Andrea Larissa Boesing, Timothy C. Bonebrake, Erin K. Cameron, Wesley Dáttilo, David A. Donoso, Pavel Drozd, Claudia L. Gray, David S. Hik, Sarah J. Hill, Tapani Hopkins, Shuyin Huang, Bonny KoaneBenita Laird-Hopkins, Liisa Laukkanen, Owen T. Lewis, Sol Milne, Isaiah Mwesige, Akihiro Nakamura, Colleen S. Nell, Elizabeth Nichols, Alena Prokurat, Katerina Sam, Niels M. Schmidt, Alison Slade, Victor Slade, Alžběta Suchanková, Tiit Teder, Saskya Van Nouhuys, Vigdis Vandvik, Anita Weissflog, Vital Zhukovich, Eleanor M. Slade

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

309 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Biotic interactions underlie ecosystem structure and function, but predicting interaction outcomes is difficult. We tested the hypothesis that biotic interaction strength increases toward the equator, using a global experiment with model caterpillars to measure predation risk. Across an 11,660-kilometer latitudinal gradient spanning six continents, we found increasing predation toward the equator, with a parallel pattern of increasing predation toward lower elevations. Patterns across both latitude and elevation were driven by arthropod predators, with no systematic trend in attack rates by birds or mammals. These matching gradients at global and regional scales suggest consistent drivers of biotic interaction strength, a finding that needs to be integrated into general theories of herbivory, community organization, and life-history evolution.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)742-744
Number of pages3
JournalScience
Volume356
Issue number6339
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 19 May 2017

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The Academy of Finland (grants 138346, 276909, and 285803 to T.R.); European Science Foundation (grant 669609 to V.N.); National Science Foundation (grant OPP 0908502 to A.A. and L. Gough, grant DGE-1321846 to C.S.N., and grant 1158817 to E.N.); Instituto de Ecolog?a, A.C. (field work grant to W.D.); Finnish Cultural Foundation, Oskar ?flunds Stiftelse, and Societas Entomologica Helsingforsiensis (grants to T.H.); Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) (grant NE/ J011169/1 to O.T.L.); S?o Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) (grant 14/11676-8 to E.N. and grant 13/23457-6 to J. P. Metzger for E.N.); Grant Agency of Czech Republic (grant 14-32024P to K.S., grant 14-04258S to V.N., and grant 14-04258S to A.S.; National Feasibility Program I (LO1208 "TEWEP" to A.S.); Estonian Ministry of Education and Research (grant IUT20-33 to T.T.); and Norwegian Research Council's Climate Change and Impacts in Norway (NORKLIMA) program (grant 230607/E10 to V.V.).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 by the American Association for the Advancement of Science; all rights reserved.

Data Availability Statement

Data are archived at the Dryad digital repository, doi:10.5061/dryad.j432q

Keywords

  • Latitudinal gradients

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    Roslin, T. (Creator), Hardwick, B. (Creator), Novotny, V. (Creator), Petry, W. K. (Creator), Andrew, N. R. (Creator), Asmus, A. (Creator), Barrio, I. C. (Creator), Basset, Y. (Creator), Boesing, A. L. (Creator), Bonebrake, T. C. (Creator), Cameron, E. K. (Creator), Dattilo, W. (Creator), Donoso, D. A. (Creator), Drozt, P. (Creator), Gray, C. L. (Creator), Hik, D. S. (Creator), Hill, S. J. (Creator), Hopkins, T. (Creator), Shuyin, H. (Creator), Koane, B. (Creator), Laird-Hopkins, B. (Creator), Laukkanen, L. (Creator), Owen, L. T. (Creator), Milne, S. (Creator), Mwesige, I. (Creator), Nakamura, A. (Creator), Nell, C. S. (Creator), Nichols, E. (Creator), Prokurat, A. (Creator), Sam, K. (Creator), Schmidt, N. M. (Creator), Slade, A. (Creator), Slade, V. (Creator), Suchankova, A. (Creator), Teder, T. (Creator), van Nouhuys, S. (Creator), Vandvik, V. (Creator), Weissflog, A. (Creator), Zhukovich, V. (Creator), Slade, E. M. (Creator) & Paton, G. (Data Manager), Dryad Digital Repository, 20 Apr 2018

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