Specificity of leaf damage in the Permian “Glossopteris Flora”: A quantitative approach

• Published in: Review of palaeobotany and palynology Vol. 174; pp. 113 - 121
• Main Authors: de Souza Pinheiro, Esther Regina, Iannuzzi, Roberto, Tybusch, Graciela Pereira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 15.04.2012
• Subjects: analysis of variance; basins; Early Permian; fauna; flora; herbivores; herbivory; insect pests; leaves; paleobotany; Paraná Basin; plant damage; plant-insect relations; quantitative analysis; Southern Brazil; herbivory; Paraná Basin; quantitative analysis; Early Permian; Southern Brazil
• ISSN: 0034-6667; 1879-0615
• DOI: 10.1016/j.revpalbo.2012.01.002

The main goal of this contribution was to analyze the distribution of types of foliar damage in the different genera of leaves forming the “Glossopteris Flora”. We studied material collected in five localities in the southern Paraná Basin, dated as Early Permian (Sakmarian–Artinskian), was studied. Fourteen types of damage caused by insects were identified in leaves of Glossopteris sp., Gangamopteris sp., and Cordaites sp. A MANOVA with permutation tests was used to evaluate the effects of the factors “genera” and “outcrop” in relation to the patterns of herbivory found in leaf impressions/compressions. A total of 850 samples were examined. Only 68 showed evidence of insect–plant interactions and the analyses of variance indicated that the foliar genera differed significantly in herbivory patterns (P=0.005). Glossopteris sp. and Cordaites sp. differed from each other (P=0.0013), and Gangamopteris sp. differed from Cordaites sp. (P=0.036). However, Glossopteris sp. did not differ from Gangamopteris sp. The sites also differed significantly with respect to damage types (P=0.001). Thus, one can conclude that apparently there was an association between types of foliar damage and genera of the “Glossopteris Flora”; indicating that probably particular groups of Paleozoic insects selected the plants with which they interacted. The influence of the depositional environment (facies and depositional systems) on the preservation of plant–insect interactions, which is a topic deserving further investigation, can be explained either by latitudinal gradient or taphonomic processes, or because each depositional environment may represent a distinct flora and fauna, which lead to different patterns of plant–insect interactions. ► We analyzed herbivory specificity in three leaf genera of Permian Glossopteris Flora. ► PCoA ordination showed association between the leaf genera and the damage types. ► Glossopteris, Gangamopteris and Cordaites differed in relation to herbivory patterns. ► The outcrops differed significantly in relation to damage types. ► The distribution of damage types in leaf genera indicates specificity in herbivory.