10.5061/DRYAD.SN0CN43
Hunter, Mark D.
University of Turku
Kozlov, Mikhail V.
University of Turku
Data from: The relative strengths of rapid and delayed density dependence
acting on a terrestrial herbivore change along a pollution gradient
Dryad
dataset
2018
insect-plant relationships
Alnus incana
emission decline
Kola Peninsula
Phyllonorycter strigulatella
Pollution
Population cycles
National Science Foundation
https://ror.org/021nxhr62
DEB-1256115
2018-11-26T21:44:39Z
2018-11-26T21:44:39Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.12930
67645 bytes
1
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
1. Animal populations vary in response to a combination of density
dependent and density independent forces, which interact to drive their
population dynamics. Understanding how abiotic forces mediate the form and
strength of density dependent processes remains a central goal of ecology,
and is of increasing urgency in a rapidly changing world. 2. Here, we
report for the first time that industrial pollution determines the
relative strength of rapid and delayed density dependence operating on an
animal population. We explored the impacts of pollution and climate on the
population dynamics of an eruptive leafmining moth, Phyllonorycter
strigulatella, around a coal fired power plant near Apatity, northwestern
Russia. Populations were monitored at 14 sites over 26 years. 3. The
relative strengths of rapid and delayed density dependence varied with
distance from the power plant. Specifically, the strength of rapid density
dependence increased while the strength of delayed density dependence
decreased with increasing distance from the pollution source. Paralleling
the increasing strength of rapid density dependence, we observed declines
in the densities of P. strigulatella, increases in predation pressure from
birds and ants, and declines in an unknown source of mortality (perhaps
plant antibiosis) with increasing distance from the power plant. 4. In
contrast to the associations with pollution, associations between climate
change and leafminer population densities were negligible. 5. Our results
may help to explain the outbreaks of insect herbivores that are frequently
observed in polluted environments. We show that they can result from the
weakening of rapid (stabilizing) density dependence relative to the
effects of destabilizing delayed density dependence. Moreover, our results
may explain some of the variation reported in published studies of animal
populations in polluted habitats. Variable results may emerge in part
because of the location of the study sites on different parts of pollution
gradients. Finally, in a rapidly changing world, effects of anthropogenic
pollution may be as, or more, important than are effects of climate change
on the future dynamics of animal populations.
Counts of leaf minersCounts of the leafmining moth, Phyllonorycter
strigulatella, on speckled alder trees over 26 years at 14 sites in the
Kola Peninsula of Russia. Sites vary in distance, and therefore pollution
load, from a coal-fired power plant.Miner_Counts.csv
Kola Peninsula