Invertebrate herbivore damage of lowland plant species decreases after an experimental shift to higher altitudes

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F25%3A00636913" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/25:00636913 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60076658:12310/25:43909894 RIV/00216208:11310/25:10500195

Result on the web

<a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1146609X25000438?via%3Dihub" target="_blank" >https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1146609X25000438?via%3Dihub</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actao.2025.104099" target="_blank" >10.1016/j.actao.2025.104099</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Invertebrate herbivore damage of lowland plant species decreases after an experimental shift to higher altitudes

Original language description

Many plant and animal species move to higher altitudes in response to climate warming, leading to new species co-occurrences and novel plant-animal interactions. These shifts can impact species diversity and community composition in mountain habitats. According to the enemy release hypothesis, plant expansion into new areas may be facilitated by reduced damage from natural enemies, like herbivores. While this mechanism is known to facilitate the spread of invasive species, it is unclear whether the uphill movement of native plants, in response to rising temperatures, is also aided by reduced herbivory at sites above their current altitudinal range. In our study, we experimentally tested this hypothesis. We compared herbivore damage of six species of lowland plants grown in pots exposed to herbivores at their native sites in the lowland and at sites above their current upper altitudinal limit. As a control, we also measured herbivore damage of six plants growing naturally across the entire range of altitude. We found that lowland plants had reduced herbivore damage when they were moved to highland sites, while herbivore damage of species naturally growing at both altitudes did not differ. Changes of herbivore damage were modulated by leaf dry matter content, specific leaf area and to a lesser degree also by plant height. Our results support the enemy release hypothesis in the context of altitudinal range shifts. We conclude that reduced herbivore damage may help plants spread above their current upper altitudinal limit in response to rising temperatures.

Czech name

—

Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

<a href="/en/project/GJ17-24795Y" target="_blank" >GJ17-24795Y: Networks of plants, pollinators, and thieves: from individual-level interactions to community-level coevolutionary trends</a><br>

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Acta Oecologica-International Journal of Ecology

ISSN

1146-609X

e-ISSN

1873-6238

Volume of the periodical

128

Issue of the periodical within the volume

SEP 2025

Country of publishing house

FR - FRANCE

Number of pages

10

Pages from-to

104099

UT code for WoS article

001507514700001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105007348000