Local thermal extremes shape the nature of herbivore plasticity that controls plant communities
Abstract
Prevailing views hold that species' physiological plasticity may confer resilience to warming, but its importance varies across climatic gradients (e.g., latitude). Yet, along such gradients local species populations may experience fine-scale spatially heterogeneous variation in extreme temperatures and other ecological stressors. We show that at four Cool (mean diel maximum 29.83°C) and four Warm (mean diel maximum 31.51°C) sites, interspersed as a spatial mosaic throughout a 26,200 km2 area, local herbivore populations responded differently to stress from experimental warming (ambient, warmed) and predation (presence, absence). Cool and Warm site herbivore populations utilized different combinations of behavioral and physiological plasticity to cope with the dual stressors that were contingent on local temperature extremes. These unique plastic responses had divergent cascading effects on the plant community. Our results suggest that paying attention to local population variation can enhance the ability to predict the fate of natural communities under environmental change.
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Baker_et_al_Code_Dryad_Figures Matthew Baker 2025-06-20 Contents RequiredData ............................................... 1 PackagestoLoad.............................................. 1 CheckingVersions ............................................. 2 Figure 1: Geographic distribution of sites and their thermal regimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Figure 2: Influence of experimental warming on thermal regimes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Figure 4: Effects of experimental warming on grasshopper behavior and physiology across Site types andpredationrisk .......................................... 5 Figure 5: Effects of grasshopper plasticity on Solidago biomass across Site types and predation risk 6 Figure S1: Effects of experimental warming on grasshopper survival across Site types and predation risk................................................... 7 Figure S2: Effects of grasshopper plasticity on grass biomass across Site types and predation risk . 8 Required Data To run this script, please add the following files to your working directory: Baker_2022_All_Ambient_Loggers_CSV.csv Baker_2022_Experimental_Warming_Loggers_CSV.csv Baker_2022_Behavior_CSV.csv Baker_2022_Physiology_CSV.csv Baker_2022_Survival_CSV.csv Baker_2022_Community_Data_CSV.csv Packages to Load ## ## Attaching package: 'dplyr' ## The following objects are masked from 'package:stats': ## ## filter, lag ## The following objects are masked from 'package:base': ## ## intersect, setdiff, setequal, union ## Linking to GEOS 3.10.2, GDAL 3.4.2, PROJ 8.2.1; sf_use_s2() is TRUE ## ## Attaching package: 'cowplot' 1
## The following object is masked from 'package:ggpubr': ## ## get_legend Checking Versions ## [1] "dplyr" ## [1] '1.1.2' ## [1] "ggplot2" ## [1] '3.4.2' ## [1] "ggpubr" ## [1] '0.6.0' ## [1] "sciplot" ## [1] '1.2.0' ## [1] "maps" ## [1] '3.4.1' ## [1] "sf" ## [1] '1.0.12' ## [1] "rnaturalearth" ## [1] '0.3.2' ## [1] "ggspatial" ## [1] '1.1.8' ## [1] "cowplot" ## [1] '1.1.3' ## [1] "R" ## [1] "R version 4.2.2 (2022-10-31)" Figure 1: Geographic distribution of sites and their thermal regimes ## [1] "This map purely for visualization, so spherical geometries are turned off" ## Spherical geometry (s2) switched off ## although coordinates are longitude/latitude, st_intersection assumes that they ## are planar ## although coordinates are longitude/latitude, st_intersection assumes that they ## are planar ## although coordinates are longitude/latitude, st_intersection assumes that they ## are planar 2
100 km 41.0°N 41.5°N 42.0°N 42.5°N 43.0°N 43.5°N 44.0°N 44.5°N 45.0°N 75°W 74°W 73°W 72°W 71°W 70°W 69°W Site type Cool Warm A 29 30 31 32 Mean Diel Maximum (°C) B 27 28 29 30 31 32 Cool Warm Mean Diel Coeff. of Var. C 12 13 14 15 Cool Warm Mean Diel Minimum (°C) D 3
Figure 2: Influence of experimental warming on thermal regimes 30 32 34 Mean Diel Maximum (°C) A 18 20 22 Mean Diel Mean (°C) B 12 13 14 15 Ambient Warmed Mean Diel Minimum (°C) C 27.5 30.0 32.5 35.0 37.5 Ambient Warmed Mean Diel Coefficient of Variation D 4
Figure 4: Effects of experimental warming on grasshopper behavior and physiology across Site types and predation risk −40 −20 0 20 40 Ambient Warmed Site type Cool Warm Predator absent −40 −20 0 20 40 Ambient Warmed Predator present Experimental warming Percent change in canopy height A 25°C 30°C 35°C Ambient Warmed Ambient Warmed Ambient Warmed −20 −10 0 10 20 25°C 30°C 35°C Ambient Warmed Ambient Warmed Ambient Warmed −20 −10 0 10 20 Assay temperature by experimental warming Percent change in mass specific respiration rate B 5
Figure 5: Effects of grasshopper plasticity on Solidago biomass across Site types and predation risk 0 5 10 15 20 Ambient Warmed Site type Cool Warm Predator absent 0 5 10 15 20 Ambient Warmed Predator present Experimental warming Solidago biomass (g) 6
Figure S1: Effects of experimental warming on grasshopper survival across Site types and predation risk −40 0 40 Ambient Warmed Site type Cool Warm Predator absent −40 0 40 Ambient Warmed Predator present Experimental warming Percent change in grasshopper survival 7
Figure S2: Effects of grasshopper plasticity on grass biomass across Site types and predation risk 0 20 40 60 Ambient Warmed Site type Cool Warm Predator absent 0 20 40 60 Ambient Warmed Predator present Experimental warming Grass biomass (g) 8