Data from: Herbivores alter plant-wind interactions by acting as a point mass on leaves and by removing leaf tissue

In nature, plants regularly interact with herbivores and with wind. Herbivores can wound and alter the structure of plants, whereas wind can exert aerodynamic forces that cause the plants to flutter or sway. While herbivory has many negative consequences for plants, fluttering in wind can be beneficial for plants by facilitating gas exchange and loss of excess heat. Little is known about how herbivores affect plant motion in wind. We tested how the mass of an herbivore resting on a broad leaf of the tulip tree Liriodendron tulipifera, and the damage caused by herbivores, affected the motion of the leaf in wind. For this, we placed mimics of herbivores on the leaves, varying each herbivore's mass or position, and used high-speed video to measure how the herbivore mimics affected leaf movement and reconfiguration at two wind speeds inside a laboratory wind tunnel. In a similar setup, we tested how naturally occurring herbivore damage on the leaves affected leaf movement and reconfiguration. We found that the mass of an herbivore resting on a leaf can change that leaf's orientation relative to the wind and interfere with the ability of the leaf to reconfigure into a smaller, more streamlined shape. A large herbivore load slowed the leaf's fluttering frequency, while naturally occurring damage from herbivores increased the leaf's fluttering frequency. We conclude that herbivores can alter the physical interactions between wind and plants by two methods: (1) acting as a point mass on the plant while it is feeding and (2) removing tissue from the plant. Altering a plant's interaction with wind can have physical and physiological consequences for the plant. Thus, future studies of plants in nature should consider the effect of herbivory on plant–wind interactions, and vice versa.

在自然环境中，植物会与植食性动物（herbivores）以及风产生持续的相互作用。植食性动物可对植物造成损伤并改变其结构，而风则会施加空气动力，使植物发生摇曳或摆动。尽管植食作用对植物多存在负面影响，但风中的植物摇曳可通过促进气体交换与多余热量散失，对植物产生益处。目前学界对植食性动物如何影响植物在风中的运动尚不清楚。
我们针对栖息于鹅掌楸（Liriodendron tulipifera）宽叶上的植食性动物的体重，以及植食性动物造成的损伤对叶片在风中运动的影响开展了探究。为此，我们在叶片上放置植食性动物模拟物，调整每个模拟物的体重或附着位置，并在实验室风洞的两种风速条件下，利用高速摄像测量植食性动物模拟物对叶片运动与形态重构的影响。在相似的实验设置下，我们还测试了叶片上自然存在的植食性损伤如何影响叶片的运动与形态重构。
研究结果表明，栖息于叶片上的植食性动物的体重可改变叶片相对于风向的方位，并干扰叶片重构为更小、更流线型形态的能力。高植食动物负载会降低叶片的摇曳频率，而自然存在的植食性损伤则会提升叶片的摇曳频率。
本研究结论为，植食性动物可通过两种途径改变风与植物间的物理相互作用：（1）在取食时作为植物表面的质点载荷；（2）移除植物组织。改变植物与风的相互作用会对植物产生物理与生理层面的影响。因此，未来针对自然环境中植物的研究，应当考虑植食作用对植物-风相互作用的影响，反之亦然。