MIC Lecture Series: Resilient Food Webs in a Changing Environment by Moria Robinson
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Resilient Food Webs in a Changing Environment by Moria Robinson
Plants and the insects that eat them form the foundation of food webs on Earth. Beyond their central ecological importance, these diverse interactions can provide powerful insight into effects of environmental change. Among plant-feeding insects, caterpillars – the larval form of butterflies and moths – are a particularly important group of organisms. With over 11,000 described species in the United States, they are one of the most diverse insect groups. Living up to their “very hungry caterpillar” reputation, they are also impactful herbivores, imposing pressure on their plant hosts to evolve unique defenses – such as hairs, tough leaves, and chemicals – to prevent tissue loss.
Such adaptations in plants may be particularly pronounced in resource-limited and stressful ecosystems like the desert Southwest, where the cost of regenerating lost tissue is particularly high. In this talk, I will discuss how the environment – and its ongoing change – shapes the traits of native plants and the success of native caterpillar species on them, with implications for higher levels in the food web.
Moria is a CNHA Discovery Pool recipient.
Plants and the insects that eat them form the foundation of food webs on Earth. Beyond their central ecological importance, these diverse interactions can provide powerful insight into effects of environmental change. Among plant-feeding insects, caterpillars – the larval form of butterflies and moths – are a particularly important group of organisms. With over 11,000 described species in the United States, they are one of the most diverse insect groups. Living up to their “very hungry caterpillar” reputation, they are also impactful herbivores, imposing pressure on their plant hosts to evolve unique defenses – such as hairs, tough leaves, and chemicals – to prevent tissue loss.
Such adaptations in plants may be particularly pronounced in resource-limited and stressful ecosystems like the desert Southwest, where the cost of regenerating lost tissue is particularly high. In this talk, I will discuss how the environment – and its ongoing change – shapes the traits of native plants and the success of native caterpillar species on them, with implications for higher levels in the food web.
Moria is a CNHA Discovery Pool recipient.
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