GREEN FOOD THROUGH TIME

Abstract

Leaves are the fundamental photosynthetic unit of a plant, and yet they suffer more tissue loss to herbivory than any other plant organ (Schowalter, 2000). Traces of insect folivory, or feeding on leaves, are clearly visible on the leaf surface. For example, after an insect consumes part of a leaf, the surrounding tissue becomes thickened to prevent further damage or desiccation (Fig. 1A). Galls and mines (Figs. 1B–D) are evidence that the leaf provided shelter and food for insect eggs and larvae. Some leaves even have scars showing where they were pierced by an insect stylet to obtain food or by an ovipositor to place eggs inside the leaf. Today, angiosperms and insects dominate terrestrial biodiversity and biomass (Price, 2002) and insect folivory plays a critical role in terrestrial trophic webs and nutrient cycling. Thus, studies of plant-insect interactions through time have important implications for evolutionary biology and paleoecology. Ellen Currano earned a B.S. in Geophysical Sciences and an A.B in Biological Sciences from the University of Chicago. While in college, she first visited the two places that would shape her scientific interests: the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, and East Africa. Ellen's Ph.D. in Geosciences from Pennsylvania State University, supervised by Peter Wilf (PSU) and Scott Wing (Smithsonian Institution), included four summers collecting fossil leaves in the Bighorn Basin. After completing her Ph.D., Ellen returned to East Africa as an NSF Earth Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow. She spent a year studying the late Oligocene Chilga floras of northwestern Ethiopia, under the guidance of Bonnie Jacobs at Southern Methodist University. In fall 2009, Ellen began a tenure-track position in the Department of Geology …