Abstract
Temperature has strong effects on metabolic processes ofindividuals and demographics of populations, but effects on ecological communities are not well known. Many economically and ecologically important pest species have obligate associations with other organisms; therefore, effects of temperature on these species might be mediated by strong interactions. The southern pine beetle (Dt'tulroctonus frontalis Zimmermann) harbors arich community ofphoretic mites and fungi that are linked by many strong direct and indirect interactions, providing multiple pathways for temperature to affect the system. We tested the effects of temperature on this community by manipulating communities within naturally infested sections of pine trees. Direct effects of temperature on component species were conspicuous and sometimes predictable based on single-species physiology, but there were also strong indirect effects oftemperature via alteration ofspecies interactions that could not have been predicted based on autecological temperature responses. Climatic variation, including directional warming, will likely influence ecological systems through direct physiological effects as well as indirect effects through species interactions.
Keywords
species interactions,
indirect interactions,
climate change,
community structure,
physiological ecology
Citation
Evans, L.M.; Hofstetter, R.W.; Ayres, M.P.; Klepzig, K.D. 2011. Temperature alters the relative abundance and population growth rates of species within the Dendroctonus frontalis (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) community. Env. Entomology 40(4):824-834