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Published April 13, 2017 | Version v1
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Data from: Insect herbivory on native and exotic aquatic plants: phosphorus and nitrogen drive insect growth and nutrient release

Creators

  • 1. Nederlands Instituut voor Ecologie
  • 2. Interdisciplinary Laboratory for Continental Environments

Description

Eutrophication and globalisation facilitate the dominance of exotic plants in aquatic ecosystems worldwide. Aquatic omnivores can provide biotic resistance to plant invasions, but little is known about whether obligate aquatic herbivores can do the same. Herbivores such as insects can decimate aquatic vegetation, but may not be able to consume exotic plants due to their more or less specialised nature of feeding. We experimentally tested the larval feeding of an aquatic insect, the moth Parapoynx stratiotata, on eleven submerged plant species, from either native or exotic origin. We also tested whether insect herbivory stimulates nutrient and organic matter release, thus affecting water quality. Larvae of P. stratiotata consumed seven out of eleven plant species, and their growth was related to plant nutrient content and stoichiometry. However, larvae had no preference for either native or exotic macrophytes, and their plant preference was not related to the measured plant traits, but was possibly driven by secondary metabolites. Through plant consumption, caterpillars induced brownification and phosphate release, and the intensity thereof varied among plant species, but not between native and exotic plants. In conclusion, P. stratiotata showed strong feeding preferences demonstrating that aquatic insects can directly and indirectly alter water quality and vegetation composition.

Notes

Results of caterpillar feeding trials
The results of the caterpillar (using Parapoynx stratiotata) feeding trials were conducted in the laboratory in the Netherlands and are located in a tab-separated text file. Respectively, column headings are: ID [= unique identifier of each record], species [= plant species fed upon by caterpillar], fresh biomass (g) [= initial plant mass offered to caterpillar], fresh biomass after (g) [= remaining plant mass], FWeaten (g) [= fresh plant biomass lost during feeding trial], 450nm [= spectrophotometric absorbance at 450 nm after experiment], TON [= oxidized nitrogen in water in mg/L], NH4 [= total ammonium in water in mg/L], PO4 [= o-phosphate in water in mg/L], NO2 [= nitrite in water in mg/L], FW caterpillar end (mg) [= final fresh weight of combined caterpillars in milligrams], P% [= plant phosphorus content in % of plant dry mass of plant remainder after feeding], C% [= plant carbon content in % of plant dry mass of plant remainder after feeding], N% [= plant nitrogen content in % of plant dry mass of plant remainder after feeding], TPC% [= plant total phenolics content in % of plant dry mass of plant remainder after feeding], caterpillar.DM [= caterpillar dry mass after feeding], caterpillar.C [= caterpillar carbon content in % of its dry mass after feeding] caterpillar.N [= caterpillar nitrogen content in % of its dry mass after feeding], caterpillar.P [= caterpillar phosphorus content in % of its dry mass after feeding]
caterpillar.txt
Results of plant CNP stoichiometry
Results of chemical analysis to determine the carbon-nitrogen-phosphorus stoichiometry of plant fragments that had not been used in feeding trials. ID [= unique identifier of the record], speciesName [= name of plant species], Replicate [= replicate id within a species], P% [= phosphorus content in % of plant dry mass], C% [= carbon content in % of plant dry mass], N% [= nitrogen content in % of plant dry mass]
plantCNP.txt

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caterpillar.txt

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Related works

Is cited by
10.1007/s10750-015-2448-1 (DOI)