Stand Diversity Does Not Mitigate Increased Herbivory on Climate‐Matched Oaks in an Assisted Migration Experiment

• Published in: Plant, cell and environment Vol. 48; no. 5; pp. 3620 - 3631
• Main Authors: Felix, Juri A., Stevenson, Philip C., Barsoum, Nadia, Koricheva, Julia
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01.05.2025; John Wiley and Sons Inc
• Subjects: Animals; Assisted migration; Availability; Biodiversity; chemical defences; Climate; climate matching; Damage; environment; herbivores; Herbivory; Herbivory - physiology; Insecta - physiology; Insects; Italy; Leaves; Mixtures; Monoculture; oak; Original; Pests; Plant Leaves - physiology; Plant species; Planting; plant–herbivore interactions; provenance; Quercus - growth & development; Quercus - parasitology; Quercus - physiology; Quercus robur; species; species mixture; Tannins; Tannins - metabolism; tree diversity; Tree planting; Trees; Trees - physiology; Italy; chemical defences; monoculture; species mixture; tree diversity; oak; plant–herbivore interactions; assisted migration; climate matching
• ISSN: 0140-7791; 1365-3040; 1365-3040
• DOI: 10.1111/pce.15383

ABSTRACT Assisted migration is a tree‐planting method where tree species or populations are translocated with the aim of establishing more climate‐resilient forests. However, this might potentially increase the susceptibility of translocated trees to herbivory. Stand diversification through planting trees in species or genotypic mixtures may reduce the amount of damage by insect pests, but its effectiveness in mitigation of excess herbivory on climate‐matched trees has seldom been explored. Using the Climate Match Experiment which manipulates both tree climatic provenance and stand diversity, we compared growth, insect herbivory and leaf traits of pedunculate oaks (Quercus robur) of local and Italian provenances in monocultures, provenance mixtures or species mixtures. Additionally, we investigated whether tree apparency and light availability cause variation in leaf traits and herbivory and tested whether these factors were influenced by stand diversity. We found that Italian oaks were subject to greater herbivore damage than those of local English provenance regardless of stand diversity and that insect herbivory in Italian oaks was higher on more apparent trees. Italian oaks also had lower concentrations of hydrolysable tannins than English oaks, but tannin concentrations were poor predictors of herbivory. Additionally, we show that leaf trait variation is strongly associated with differences in light availability. Summary statement This study explores the interactive effects of assisted migration and stand diversification on leaf traits and herbivory using a tree diversity experiment in Southern England. Oaks of Italian provenance received more herbivory than oaks of the local provenance, revealing a potential downside of assisted migration. Increasing neighbourhood diversity did not mitigate higher herbivory. Additionally, light availability significantly affected oak leaf traits; however, this did not explain variation in herbivory.