Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-g8jcs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T01:11:13.808Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Host tree age as a selective pressure leading to local adaptation of a population of a polyphagous Lepidoptera in virgin boreal forest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2009

R. Berthiaume ,
É. Bauce ,
C. Hébert  and
J. Brodeur
R. Berthiaume*
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Faculté de Foresterie, Cité Universitaire, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, Québec, QCCanada, G1K 7P4
É. Bauce
Affiliation:
Université Laval, Faculté de Foresterie, Cité Universitaire, Pavillon Abitibi-Price, Québec, QCCanada, G1K 7P4
C. Hébert
Affiliation:
Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, 1055 du P.E.P.S., PO Box 10380, Stn. Sainte-Foy, Québec, QCCanada, G1V 4C7
J. Brodeur
Affiliation:
Institut de recherche en biologie végétale, Université de Montréal, 4101, rue Sherbrooke est, Montréal, QCCanadaH1X 2B2
*
*Author for correspondence Fax: (418) 648-5849 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that host tree age may act as a selective factor and lead to local adaptation of the hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria), a geometrid Lepidoptera that has a wide geographical distribution and has evolved in different eco-zones characterized by different levels of floristic composition, age structure and fragmentation level. Considering that hemlock looper outbreaks mainly occurred in old forests, we compared the biological performances of two populations. The first population was collected in the northern virgin boreal forest, which is dominated by mature and overmature coniferous stands that have not suffered from human disturbance. The other population was collected in the southern mixed-wood forest, which is more diversified and has been modified by forest harvesting. Larvae were reared under controlled conditions on foliage from three age classes of balsam fir trees: juvenile, mature and overmature. Although we measured significant variations of biological performances between the two populations, no significant effect of the age of the balsam fir trees could be detected for males from both populations or for females from the southern population. However, northern females were strongly affected by the age of balsam fir trees on which they fed, as their pupal weight was 12% higher and their fecundity increased by 27% on overmature trees compared with juvenile ones. These results indicate that under the same selective pressure, females adapt their strategy to maximize their fitness, and thus they appear as the driving force of evolution through the local adaptation concept. Furthermore, the two populations evolved in distinct habitats and their adaptation reflects selective pressures occurring inside their original environment. This is the first report on local adaptation of an herbivore that is mediated by host tree age. Changes in forest age structure may have a considerable impact on insect local adaptation and presumably on their population dynamics.

Keywords

local adaptationinsect plant interactionshost tree ageselective pressuregeographic variationlandscapeLambdina fiscellariabalsam fir
Type
Research Paper
Information
Bulletin of Entomological Research , Volume 99 , Issue 5 , October 2009 , pp. 493 - 501
Creative Commons
Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada
Copyright
Copyright © Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alonso, C., Ruohomäki, K., Riipi, M. & Henriksson, J. (2001) Testing for prerequisites of local adaptation in an insect herbivore, Epirrita autumnata. Écoscience 8, 26–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andreeva, E.M. (2002) Analysis of trophic indices in gypsy moth (Lymantria dispar L.) larvae from two geographic populations. Russian Journal of Ecology 33, 342–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Awmack, C.S. & Leather, S.R. (2002) Host plant quality and fecundity in herbivorous insects. Annual Review of Entomology 47, 817–844.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bauce, É., Crépin, M. & Carisey, N. (1994) Spruce budworm growth, development and food utilization on young and old balsam fir trees. Oecologia 97, 499–507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bélanger, L., Ducruc, J.P. & Pineau, M. (1983) Proposition d'une méthode d'inventaire écologique adaptée au territoire forestier périurbain. Le Naturaliste canadien 110, 459–476.Google Scholar
Berlocher, S.H. & Feder, J.L. (2002) Sympatric speciation in phytophagous insects: Moving beyond controversy? Annual Review of Entomology 47, 773–815.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berrigan, D. (1991) The allometry of egg size and number in insects. Oikos 60, 313–321.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berthiaume, R. (2007) Écologie évolutive des populations d'arpenteuse de la pruche. PhD Thesis, Université Laval, Québec, Canada.Google Scholar
Berthiaume, R., Bauce, É., Hébert, C. & Brodeur, J. (2007) Developmental polymorphism in a Newfoundland population of the hemlock looper, Lambdina fiscellaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Environmental Entomology 36, 707–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blake, E.A. & Wagner, M.R. (1984) Effect of sex and instar on food consumption, nutritional indices, and foliage wasting by the western spruce budworm, Choristoneura occidentalis. Environmental Entomology 13, 1634–1638.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boucher, D., De Grandpré, L. & Gauthier, S. (2003) Développement d'un outil de classification de la structure des peuplements et comparaison de deux territoires de la pessière à mousses du Québec. The Forestry Chronicle 79, 318–328.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, A.L. (1999) Physiological adaptation to temporal variation in conifer foliage by a caterpillar. The Canadian Entomologist 131, 659–669.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carroll, W.J. (1956) History of the hemlock looper, Lambdina fiscellaria fiscellaria (Guen.), (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) in Newfoundland, and notes on its biology. The Canadian Entomologist 88, 587–599.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Diehl, S.R. & Bush, G.L. (1984) An evolutionary and applied perspective of insect biotypes. Annual Review of Entomology 29, 471–504.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edmunds, G. F. Jr. & Alstad, D.N. (1978) Coevolution in insect herbivores and conifers. Science 199, 941–945.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Futuyma, D.J. & Moreno, G. (1988) The evolution of ecological specialization. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 19, 207–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grandtner, M.M. (1966) La végétation forestière du Québec méridional. 216 pp. Sainte-Foy, Québec, Canada, Les Presses de l'Université Laval.Google Scholar
Grondin, P. (1996) Écologie forestière. pp. 133–279in Bédard, J.A. & Côté, M. (Eds) Manuel de Foresterie. Québec, Canada, Les Presses de l'Université Laval.Google Scholar
Groombridge, B. (1992) Global Biodiversity: Status of the Earth's Living Resources. 585 pp. London, UK, Chapman & Hall.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hébert, C. & Jobin, L. (2001) The hemlock looper. Natural Resources Canada, Canadian Forest Service, Laurentian Forestry Centre, Sainte-Foy, Quebec. Information Leaflet LFC-4 (revised version).Google Scholar
Hébert, C., Jobin, L., Auger, M. & Dupont, A. (2003) Oviposition traps to survey eggs of Lambdina fiscellaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae). Journal of Economic Entomology 96, 768–776.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hébert, C., Berthiaume, R., Bauce, É. & Brodeur, J. (2006) Geographic biotype and host-associated local adaptation in a polyphagous species, Lambdina fiscellaria (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) feeding on balsam fir on Anticosti Island, Canada. Bulletin of Entomological Research 96, 619–627.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Horton, D.R., Capinera, J.L. & Chapman, P.L. (1988) Local differences in host use by two populations of the Colorado potato beetle. Ecology 69, 823–831.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hsiao, T.H. (1978) Host plant adaptations among geographic populations of the Colorado potato beetle. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 24, 437–447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karban, R. (1987) Herbivory dependent on plant age: a hypothesis based on acquired resistance. Oikos 48, 336–337.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karban, R. (1989) Fine-scale adaptation of herbivorous thrips to individual host plants. Nature 340, 60–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Karban, R. (1990) Herbivore outbreaks on only young trees: testing hypotheses about aging and induced resistance. Oikos 59, 27–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kawecki, T.J. & Ebert, D. (2004) Conceptual issues in local adaptation. Ecology Letters 7, 1225–1241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martikainen, P., Siitonen, J., Kaila, L., Punttila, P. & Rauh, J. (1999) Bark beetles (Coleoptera, Scolytidae) and associated beetle species in mature managed and old-growth boreal forests in southern Finland. Forest Ecology and Management 116, 233–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mopper, S., Beck, M., Simberloff, D. & Stiling, P. (1995) Local adaptation and agents of selection in a mobile insect. Evolution 49, 810–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nitao, J.K., Ayres, M.P., Lederhouse, R.C. & Scriber, J.M. (1991) Larval adaptation to lauraceous hosts: geographic divergence in the spicebush swallowtail butterfly. Ecology 72, 1428–1435.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nylin, S. & Gotthard, K. (1998) Plasticity in life-history traits. Annual Review of Entomology 43, 63–83.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Otvos, I.S., Clarke, L.J. & Durling, D.S. (1979) A history of recorded eastern hemlock looper outbreaks in Newfoundland. Environment Canada, Canadian Forestry Service, Newfoundland Forestry Research Centre, St. John's, NF. N-X-179.Google Scholar
Primack, R.B. (2002) Essentials of Conservation Biology. 698 pp. Sunderland, MA, Sinauer Associates, Inc. Publishers.Google Scholar
Quiring, D.T. (1992) Rapid change in suitability of white spruce for a specialist herbivore, Zeiraphera canadensis, as a function of leaf age. Canadian Journal of Zoology 70, 2132–2138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reed, R.A., Johnson-Barnard, J. & Baker, W.L. (1996) Fragmentation of a forested Rocky Mountain landscape, 1950–1993. Biological Conservation 75, 267–277.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruffié, J. (1986) Traité du Vivant. 350 pp. Paris, France, Librairie Flammarion.Google Scholar
Sachs, D.L., Sollins, P. & Cohen, W.B. (1998) Detecting landscape changes in the interior of British Columbia from 1975 to 1992 using satellite imagery. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 28, 23–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SAS Institute Inc. (1999) SAS/STAT® User's Guide, version 8, vol. 1–3. Cary, NC.Google Scholar
Schilthuizen, M. (2001) Frogs, Flies, and Dandelions: Speciation – The Evolution of New Species. 230 pp. Oxford, UK, Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schluter, D. (2001) Ecology and the origin of species. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16, 372–380.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Scriber, J.M. & Slansky, F. Jr. (1981) The nutritional ecology of immature insects. Annual Review of Entomology 26, 183–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Skulason, S. & Smith, T.B. (1995) Resource polymorphisms in vertebrates. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 10, 366–370.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tammaru, T., Kaitaniemi, P. & Ruohomäki, K. (1996) Realized fecundity in Epirrita autumnata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae): relation to body size and consequences to population dynamics. Oikos 77, 407–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tammaru, T., Esperk, T. & Castellanos, I. (2002) No evidence for costs of being large in females of Orgyia spp. (Lepidoptera, Lymantriidae): larger is always better. Oecologia 133, 430–438.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tauber, C.A., Tauber, M.J. & Tauber, M.J. (1991) Egg size and taxon: their influence on survival and development of chrysopid hatchlings after food and water deprivation. Canadian Journal of Zoology 69, 2644–2650.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thurston, G.S. & MacGregor, J.D. (2003) Body size – realized fecundity relationship of whitemarked tussock moth. The Canadian Entomologist 135, 583–586.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turelli, M., Barton, N.H. & Coyne, J.A. (2001) Theory and speciation. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 16, 330–343.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watson, E.B. (1934) An account of the eastern hemlock looper, Ellopia fiscellaria Gn., on balsam fir. Scientific Agriculture 14, 669–678.Google Scholar