Identifying the generalizable controls on insect associations of native and non-native trees.

ABSTRACT: Trees growing outside their native geographic ranges often exhibit exceptional growth and survival due in part to the lack of co-evolved natural enemies that may limit their spread and suppress population growth. While most non-native trees tend to accumulate natural enemies over time, it remains uncertain which host and insect characteristics affect these novel associations and whether novel associations follow patterns of assembly similar to those of native hosts. Here, we used a dataset of insect-host tree associations in Europe to model which native insect species are paired with which native tree species, and then tested the model on its ability to predict which native insects are paired with which non-native trees. We show that native and non-native tree species closely related to kn

SUBMITTER: Gougherty AV 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11089089 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature