Higher predation risk for insect prey at low latitudes and elevations

0474680 - BC 2018 RIV US eng J - Journal Article
Roslin, T. - Hardwick, B. - Novotný, Vojtěch - Petry, W. K. - Andrew, N. R. - Asmus, A. - Barrio, I. C. - Basset, Yves - Boesing, A. L. - Bonebrake, T. C. - Cameron, E. K. - Dáttilo, W. - Donoso, D. A. - Drozd, P. - Gray, C. L. - Hik, S. D. - Hill, S. J. - Hopkins, T. - Huang, S. - Koane, B. - Laird-Hopkins, B. - Laukkanen, L. - Lewis, O. T. - Milne, S. - Mwesige, I. - Nakamura, A. - Nell, C. S. - Nichols, E. - Prokurat, A. - Sam, Kateřina - Schmidt, N. M. - Slade, A. - Slade, V. - Suchánková, A. - Teder, T. - van Nouhuys, S. - Vandvik, V. - Weissflog, A. - Zhukovich, V. - Slade, E. M.
Higher predation risk for insect prey at low latitudes and elevations.
Science. Roč. 356, č. 6339 (2017), s. 742-744. ISSN 0036-8075. E-ISSN 1095-9203
R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GP14-32024P; GA ČR(CZ) GA14-04258S
EU Projects: European Commission(XE) 669609 - Diversity6continents
Institutional support: RVO:60077344
Keywords : plasticine caterpillars * arthropod predation * bird predation
OECD category: Ecology
Impact factor: 41.058, year: 2017
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/356/6339/742/tab-pdf

It is well known that diversity increases toward the tropics. Whether this increase translates into differences in interaction rates among species, however, remains unclear. To simplify the problem, Roslin and his colleagues tested globally for predation rates by using a single approach involving model caterpillars. Across an 11,660-kilometer latitudinal gradient spanning six continents, we found increasing predation toward the equator, with a parallel pattern of increasing predation toward lower elevations. Patterns across both latitude and elevation were driven by arthropod predators, with no systematic trend in attack rates by birds or mammals. These matching gradients at global and regional scales suggest consistent drivers of biotic interaction strength, a finding that needs to be integrated into general theories of herbivory, community organization, and life-history evolution.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0272215