Herbivory in a changing climate—Effects of plant genotype and experimentally induced variation in plant phenology on two summer‐active lepidopteran herbivores and one fungal pathogen

Abstract

With climate change, spring warming tends to advance plant leaf‐out. While the timing of leaf‐out has been shown to affect the quality of leaves for herbivores in spring, it is unclear whether such effects extend to herbivores active in summer. In this study, we first examined how spring and autumn phenology of seven Quercus robur genotypes responded to elevated temperatures in spring. We then tested whether the performance of two summer‐active insect herbivores ( Orthosia gothica and Polia nebulosa) and infection by a pathogen ( Erysiphe alphitoides) were influenced by plant phenology, traits associated with genotype or the interaction between these two. Warm spring temperatures advanced both bud development and leaf senescence in Q. robur. Plants of different genotype differed in terms of both spring and autumn phenology. Plant phenology did not influence the performance of two insect herbivores and a pathogen, while traits associated with oak genotype had an effect on herbivore performance. Weight gain for O. gothica and ingestion for P. nebulosa differed by a factor of 4.38 and 2.23 among genotypes, respectively. Herbivore species active in summer were influenced by traits associated with plant genotype but not by phenology. This suggest that plant attackers active in summer may prove tolerant to shifts in host plant phenology—a pattern contrasting with previously documented effects on plant attackers active in spring and autumn.

Abstract

We found that spring and autumn phenology differed among plant genotypes, but that neither the performance of the summer active herbivores nor the fungal pathogen were influenced by host plant phenology. This implies that herbivores active in summer can – at least to a certain extent – tolerate climate‐induced shifts in host plant phenology.