Role of dominant tree species on diversity of herbivorous insect community in temperate forests

Abstract

• Sampled caterpillars from two 0.1 ha plots in temperate forest. • 738 caterpillars from 223 Lepidopteran species on 34 tree species. • Oaks and hornbeams support large Lepidopteran community. • Other species support diverse but specific herbivores. Oak ( Quercus spp.) and hornbeam ( Carpinus spp.) are one of dominant tree species in East Asian temperate broad leaf deciduous forests and many insect species, including more than 65% of Lepidoptera species, feed on these trees. We sampled lepidopteran caterpillars from two 0.1 ha plots in a temperate forest to investigate the role of dominant trees (oaks and hornbeams) in herbivore community. In total, we identified 738 caterpillars from 223 Lepidopteran species on 34 tree species. Most caterpillar species were from species-rich families such as Geometridae 25% (56 spp.), Noctuidae, and Tortricidae. After excluding dominant trees, plant-herbivore network analyses showed increased network specialization and nestedness and decreased generality and vulnerability. These results suggest that oaks and hornbeams support a large Lepidopteran herbivore community, and co-occurring plant species support diverse but specific herbivores. Geographical distribution and plant community are closely related to diversity of the herbivore community. Future work is needed to investigate the likelihood that specialist herbivores become relatively more abundant in the forest as oaks are succeeded by hornbeams.