Data for beta diversity analysis of insect herbivory evolution

Modern ecosystems display complex associations of plants-insects that
underwent a long evolutionary process since the appearance of
mid-Paleozoic vascular plants. Although several major hypotheses explain
the evolution of these plant–insect associations, the initial pattern of
modern insect herbivory is poorly understood. To understand the antiquity
of modern patterns of terrestrial arthropod herbivory, functional feeding
group–damage type (FFG-DT) data were used to analyze a 305-million-year
interval from Late Pennsylvanian to present, in which 134 plant
assemblages were used to assess turnover (replacement of some species by
other species between sites) and nestedness (difference in composition
when no species are replaced between sites) in pairwise comparisons of
DTs. Results of beta diversity analyses indicate the prototype pattern for
modern insect herbivory was established on gymnosperm-dominated plant
assemblages by late Middle Jurassic, antedating angiosperm dominance by 60
million years. Turnover among plant groups and FFGs declined in earlier
late Paleozoic whereas during the later Cenozoic nestedness generally
increased. Insect feeding on gymnosperms showed one pattern of change with
low turnover and high nestedness whereas a bimodal pattern characterized
angiosperms. Ferns and angiosperms exhibited less DT functional breadth
(host-plant “specificity” by herbivores) than gymnosperms, reflecting
major differences in links between insect herbivores and their
host-plants. This fundamental trophic shift is consistent with the Mid
Mesozoic Parasitoid Revolution, implying top-down control of herbivores by
their consumers rather than bottom-up regulation of food sources that
shaped the modern herbivory pattern. These findings provide a data-rich
account of the ecological origins of modern herbivory.