Latest Articles from Rethinking Ecology Latest 2 Articles from Rethinking Ecology https://rethinkingecology.pensoft.net/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 15:02:51 +0200 Pensoft FeedCreator https://rethinkingecology.pensoft.net/i/logo.jpg Latest Articles from Rethinking Ecology https://rethinkingecology.pensoft.net/ Plant trait covariance and nonlinear averaging: a reply to Koussoroplis et al. https://rethinkingecology.pensoft.net/article/32767/ Rethinking Ecology 4: 115-118

DOI: 10.3897/rethinkingecology.4.32767

Authors: William Wetzel, Heather Kharouba, Moria Robinson, Marcel Holyoak, Richard Karban

Abstract: SADIE (Spatial Analysis by Distance Indices) is designed specifically to quantify patterns in spatially-referenced count-based data. It was developed for dealing with data that can be considered ‘patchy’. Such distributions are commonly found, for example, in insect populations where discrete patches of individuals are often evident. The distributions of such populations have ‘hard edges’, with patches and gaps occurring spatially. In these cases variance of abundance does not vary smoothly, but discontinuously. In this paper we outline the use of SADIE and provide free access to the SADIE software suite, establishing Rethinking Ecology as its permanent home. Finally, we review the use of SADIE and demonstrate its use in a wide variety of sub-disciplines within the general field of ecology.

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Responses Tue, 2 Jul 2019 09:25:33 +0300
A comment on “Variability in plant nutrients reduces insect herbivore performance” https://rethinkingecology.pensoft.net/article/32252/ Rethinking Ecology 4: 79-87

DOI: 10.3897/rethinkingecology.4.32252

Authors: Apostolos-Manuel Koussoroplis, Toni Klauschies, Sylvain Pincebourde, David Giron, Alexander Wacker

Abstract: In their recent contribution, Wetzel et al. [Wetzel et al. (2016) Variability in plant nutrients reduces insect herbivore performance. Nature 539: 425-427] predict that variance in the plant nutrient level reduces herbivore performance via the nonlinear averaging effect (named Jensen’s effect by the authors) while variance in the defense level does not. We argue that the study likely underestimates the potential of plant defenses’ variance to cause Jensen’s effects for two reasons. First, this conclusion is based on the finding that the average Jensen’s effect of various defense traits on various herbivores is zero which does not imply that the Jensen’s effect of specific defense traits on specific herbivores is null, just that the effects balance each other globally. Second, the study neglects the nonlinearity effects that may arise from the synergy between nutritive and defense traits or between co-occurring defenses on herbivore performance. Covariance between interacting plant defense traits, or between plant nutritive and defense traits, can affect performance differently than would nutritive or single plant defense variance alone. Overlooking the interactive effects of plant traits and the traits’ covariance could impair the assessment of the true role of plant trait variability on herbivore populations in natural settings.

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Responses Fri, 10 May 2019 13:43:03 +0300