Data from: Related herbivore species show similar temporal dynamics

1.Within natural communities, different taxa display different dynamics in time. Why this is the case we do not fully know. This thwarts our ability to predict changes in community structure, which is important for both the conservation of rare species in natural communities and for the prediction of pest outbreaks in agriculture. 2.Species sharing phylogeny, natural enemies and/or life history traits have been hypothesized to share similar temporal dynamics. We operationalized these concepts into testing whether feeding guild, voltinism, similarity in parasitoid community, and/or phylogenetic relatedness explained similarities in temporal dynamics among herbivorous community members. 3.Focusing on two similar data sets from different geographical regions (Finland and Japan), we used asymmetric eigenvector maps as temporal variables to characterize species- and community-level dynamics of specialist insect herbivores on oak (Quercus). We then assessed whether feeding guild, voltinism, similarity in parasitoid community, and/or phylogenetic relatedness explained similarities in temporal dynamics among taxa. 4.Species-specific temporal dynamics varied widely, ranging from directional decline or increase to more complex patterns. Phylogeny was a clear predictor of similarity in temporal dynamics at the Finnish site, whereas for the Japanese site, the data were uninformative regarding a phylogenetic imprint. Voltinism, feeding guild and parasitoid overlap explained little variation at either location. Despite the rapid temporal dynamics observed at the level of individual species, these changes did not translate into any consistent temporal changes at the community level in either Finland or Japan. 5.Overall, our findings offer no direct support for the notion that species sharing natural enemies and/or life history traits would be characterised by similar temporal dynamics, but reveal a strong imprint of phylogenetic relatedness. As this phylogenetic signal cannot be attributed to guild, voltinism or parasitoids, it will likely derive from shared microhabitat, microclimate, anatomy, physiology or behaviour. This has important implications for predicting insect outbreaks and for informing insect conservation. We hope that future studies will assess the generality of our findings across plant-feeding insect communities and beyond, and establish the more precise mechanism(s) underlying the phylogenetic imprint.1. 在自然群落中，不同的分类群（taxa）表现出各异的时间动态。目前我们尚未完全阐明这一现象背后的成因，这阻碍了我们预测群落结构变化的能力——而群落结构变化对于自然群落中稀有物种的保护，以及农业害虫爆发的预测均具有重要意义。 2. 学界曾提出假说：共享系统发育（phylogeny）、天敌以及/或生活史性状的物种，其时间动态应当相似。我们将这些假说具象为可检验的问题，即取食功能群（feeding guild）、化性（voltinism）、寄生蜂群落（parasitoid community）相似度以及/或系统发育亲缘关系，能否解释植食性群落成员间的时间动态相似性。 3. 我们聚焦于来自芬兰与日本两个不同地理区域的相似数据集，以非对称特征向量映射（asymmetric eigenvector maps）作为时间变量，刻画栎属（Quercus）上专性植食性昆虫的物种水平与群落水平时间动态。随后我们再次检验：取食功能群、化性、寄生蜂群落相似度以及/或系统发育亲缘关系，能否解释各类群间的时间动态相似性。 4. 物种特异性的时间动态差异显著，变化模式涵盖单向下降、单向增长乃至更为复杂的类型。在芬兰样地，系统发育是时间动态相似性的显著预测因子；而在日本样地，相关数据未体现出系统发育印记。化性、取食功能群与寄生蜂重叠在两个样地中均仅能解释极少的变异。尽管单个物种种群呈现出快速的时间动态变化，但在芬兰与日本的样地中，这些变化均未转化为群落水平上一致的时间动态改变。 5. 综上，我们的研究并未为“共享天敌与/或生活史性状的物种具有相似时间动态”这一假说提供直接支持，但却揭示了系统发育亲缘关系的强烈印记。由于该系统发育信号无法通过取食功能群、化性或寄生蜂关联来解释，其成因大概率源自共享的微生境、微气候、解剖结构、生理特征或行为模式。这一发现对于预测昆虫爆发以及指导昆虫保护均具有重要意义。我们期待未来的研究能够在植食性昆虫群落乃至其他类群中验证本研究结论的普适性，并阐明系统发育印记背后的具体作用机制。