Temporal co-occurrence of leaf herbivory by chewers, leaf miners and gall-formers on a tropical tree: Do leaf traits matter?

Abstract

The structure of the community of insect herbivores in a plant can be determined by plant traits and also by interactions with consumers. We studied the herbivores associated with the tropical plant Andira nitida (Fabaceae), aiming to understand the temporal co-occurrence of herbivore insects from different guilds. We monitored and quantified the temporal sequence of appearance and leaf consumption of three herbivore guilds (leaf miners, gall-formers and chewers) at weekly intervals for 23 weeks (between September 2021 and March 2022), testing whether functional leaf traits (leaf area, leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area and leaf age) influence herbivory incidence and intensity. Leaves of A. nitida showed simultaneous damage by miners, chewers and six gall species. We found a temporal sequence in the establishment of leaf herbivores and a preference for young leaves. However, null model analysis indicated independent patterns of association between herbivores, and there was no evidence of co-occurrence or repulsion between herbivores or herbivore guilds. We found that leaf age is a determinant functional trait for the occurrence of all guilds and types of herbivores in A. nitida. However most of the physical characteristics of the leaf did not show a clear effect on the herbivore community. We showed that interactions among herbivores partially explained the organization of herbivorous insects in A. nitida and that patterns of occurrence depend more on the life history of herbivores than on aspects associated with plant functional traits. We suggest that there is differential leaf use by herbivores in time, which leads to the formation of different pairs of co-occurring herbivores.