title: Tropical plant-herbivore networks: reconstructing species interactions using DNA barcodes.
abstract: Plants and their associated insect herbivores, represent more than 50% of all known species on earth. The first step in understanding the mechanisms generating and maintaining this important component of biodiversity is to identify plant-herbivore associations. In this study we determined insect-host plant associations for an entire guild of insect herbivores using plant DNA extracted from insect gut contents. Over two years, in a tropical rain forest in Costa Rica (La Selva Biological Station), we recorded the full diet breadth of rolled-leaf beetles, a group of herbivores that feed on plants in the order Zingiberales. Field observations were used to determine the accuracy of diet identifications using a three-locus DNA barcode (rbcL, trnH-psbA and ITS2). Using extraction techniques for ancient DNA, we obtained high-quality sequences for two of these loci from gut contents (rbcL and ITS2). Sequences were then compared to a comprehensive DNA barcode library of the Zingiberales. The rbcL locus identified host plants to family (success/sequence = 58.8%) and genus (success/sequence = 47%). For all Zingiberales except Heliconiaceae, ITS2 successfully identified host plants to genus (success/sequence = 67.1%) and species (success/sequence = 61.6%). Kindt's sampling estimates suggest that by collecting ca. four individuals representing each plant-herbivore interaction, 99% of all host associations included in this study can be identified to genus. For plants that amplified ITS2, 99% of the hosts can be identified to species after collecting at least four individuals representing each interaction. Our study demonstrates that host plant identifications at the species-level using DNA barcodes are feasible, cost-effective, and reliable, and that reconstructing plant-herbivore networks with these methods will become the standard for a detailed understanding of these interactions.
authors: Department of Botany, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., USA.
authors: Carlos
authors: C
authors: García-Robledo
authors: David L
authors: DL
authors: Erickson
authors: Charles L
authors: CL
authors: Staines
authors: Terry L
authors: TL
authors: Erwin
authors: W John
authors: WJ
authors: Kress
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000502:physiology*; D058893:DNA Barcoding, Taxonomic; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D060434:Herbivory; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000235:genetics; D010944:Plants / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D018744:DNA, Plant