Scientists at the University of Wyoming have found that plants are being damaged by insects even as insect numbers decline.
The first-of-its-kind study compares the damage of modern-era plants with that of ancient leaves. There are findings in the journal.
Lauren Azevedo-Schmidt is the lead researcher and she says their work bridges the gap between those who use fossils to study plant-insect interactions and those who study them in a modern context. There is a difference in insect damage between the modern era and the past.
The research was conducted by Azevedo-Schmidt and others.
The study compared leaves collected by Azevedo-Schmidt from three modern forests to leaves that had been damaged by insects. The research looked at different types of damage done by insects and found marked increases in recent damage compared to the fossil record.
Despite widespread insect declines, plants in the modern era are experiencing unprecedented levels of insect damage.
More research is needed to figure out the causes of increased insect damage to plants, but the scientists say a warming climate and introduction of non-native species likely have had a major impact.
The most human impact occurred after the Industrial Revolution, according to the researchers. According to the hypothesis, herbarium samples from the early 2000s were more likely to have insect damage than samples from the early 1900s.
Climate change does not fully explain the increase in insect damage.
The researchers said that the strength of human influence on plant-insect interactions is not controlled by climate change alone.
More information: Azevedo-Schmidt, Lauren, Insect herbivory within modern forests is greater than fossil localities, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2022). DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2202852119. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2202852119 Journal information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
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