Small-scale spatial resource partitioning in a hyperparasitoid community

TY - JOUR

T1 - Small-scale spatial resource partitioning in a hyperparasitoid community

AU - Harvey, Jeffrey A.

AU - Snaas, Helen

AU - Malčická, Mima

AU - Visser, Bertanne

AU - Bezemer, T. Martijn

N1 - 5764, TE Data archiving: data archived at MDA

PY - 2014

Y1 - 2014

N2 - Plant-herbivore-natural enemy associations underpin ecological communities, and such interactions may go up to four (or even more) trophic levels. Here, over the course of a growing season, we compared the diversity of secondary hyperparasitoids associated with a common host, Cotesia glomerata, a specialized larval endoparasitoid of cabbage butterfly caterpillars that in turn feed on brassicaceous plants. Cocoon clusters of C. glomerata were pinned to similar to 30 Brassica nigra plants by pinning them either to branches in the canopy (similar to 1.5 m high) or to the base of the stem near the ground. The cocoons were collected a week later and reared to determine which hyper-parasitoid species emerged from them. This was done in four consecutive months (June-September). Cocoons placed in the canopy were primarily attacked by specialized winged hyperparasitoids (Lysibia nana, Acrolyta nens), whereas cocoons on the ground were attacked by both winged and generalist wingless hyperparasitoids Gelis acarorum, G. agilis), although this changed with season. There was much more temporal variation in the diversity and number of species attacking cocoons in the canopy than on the ground; the abundance of L. nana and A. nens varied from month to month, whereas P. semotus was only prevalent in August. By contrast, G. acarorum was abundant in all of the samples placed near the ground. Our results show that hyperparasitoids partition host resources at remarkably small vertical spatial scales. We argue that spatial differences in the distribution of natural enemies can contribute to the diversity patterns observed in the field.

AB - Plant-herbivore-natural enemy associations underpin ecological communities, and such interactions may go up to four (or even more) trophic levels. Here, over the course of a growing season, we compared the diversity of secondary hyperparasitoids associated with a common host, Cotesia glomerata, a specialized larval endoparasitoid of cabbage butterfly caterpillars that in turn feed on brassicaceous plants. Cocoon clusters of C. glomerata were pinned to similar to 30 Brassica nigra plants by pinning them either to branches in the canopy (similar to 1.5 m high) or to the base of the stem near the ground. The cocoons were collected a week later and reared to determine which hyper-parasitoid species emerged from them. This was done in four consecutive months (June-September). Cocoons placed in the canopy were primarily attacked by specialized winged hyperparasitoids (Lysibia nana, Acrolyta nens), whereas cocoons on the ground were attacked by both winged and generalist wingless hyperparasitoids Gelis acarorum, G. agilis), although this changed with season. There was much more temporal variation in the diversity and number of species attacking cocoons in the canopy than on the ground; the abundance of L. nana and A. nens varied from month to month, whereas P. semotus was only prevalent in August. By contrast, G. acarorum was abundant in all of the samples placed near the ground. Our results show that hyperparasitoids partition host resources at remarkably small vertical spatial scales. We argue that spatial differences in the distribution of natural enemies can contribute to the diversity patterns observed in the field.

KW - Acrolyta nens

KW - Brassica nigra

KW - Competition

KW - Gelis sp.

KW - Lysibia nana

KW - Multitrophic interactions

KW - Niche

KW - Pieris brassicae

KW - NIOO

U2 - 10.1007/s11829-014-9319-y

DO - 10.1007/s11829-014-9319-y

M3 - Article

SN - 1872-8855

VL - 8

SP - 393

EP - 401

JO - Arthropod Plant Interactions

JF - Arthropod Plant Interactions

IS - 5

ER -