How much leaf area do insects eat? A data set of insect herbivory sampled globally with a standardized protocol

Herbivory is ubiquitous. Despite being a potential driver of plant distribution and performance, herbivory remains largely undocumented. Some early attempts have been made to review, globally, how much leaf area is removed through insect feeding. Kozlov et al. (2015), in one of the most comprehensive reviews regarding global patterns of herbivory, have compiled published studies regarding foliar removal and sampled data on global herbivory levels using a standardized protocol. However, in the review by Kozlov et al. (2015), only 15 sampling sites, comprising 33 plant species, were evaluated in tropical areas around the globe. In Brazil, which ranks first in terms of plant biodiversity, with a total of 46,097 species, almost half (43%) being endemic, a single data point was sampled, covering only two plant species. In an attempt to increase knowledge regarding herbivory in tropical plant species and to provide the raw data needed to test general hypotheses related to plant?herbivore interactions across large spatial scales, we proposed a joint, collaborative network to evaluate tropical herbivory. This network allowed us to update and expand the data on insect herbivory in tropical and temperate plant species. Our data set, collected with a standardized protocol, covers 45 sampling sites from nine countries and includes leaf herbivory measurements of 57,239 leaves from 209 species of vascular plants belonging to 65 families from tropical and temperate regions. They expand previous data sets by including a total of 32 sampling sites from tropical areas around the globe, comprising 152 species, 146 of them being sampled in Brazil. For temperate areas, it includes 13 sampling sites, comprising 59 species. Thus, when compared to the most recent comprehensive review of insect herbivory (Kozlov et al. 2015), our data set has increased the base of available data for the tropical plants in more than 460% (from 33 to 152 species) and the Brazilian sampling was increased in 7,300% (from 2 to 146 species). Data on precise levels of herbivory are presented for more than 57,000 leaves worldwide.

Fil: Mendes, Gisele M.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Silveira, Fernando A.O.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Oliveira, Carolina. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Dáttilo, Wesley. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; México

Fil: Guevara, Roger. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Ruiz Guerra, Betsabe. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Boaventura, Maria Gabriela. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Sershen, null. University Of The Western Cape; Sudáfrica

Fil: Ramdhani, Syd. University Of Kwazulu-natal; Sudáfrica

Fil: Phartyal, Shyam S.. Nalanda University; India

Fil: Ribeiro, Sérvio P.. Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto; Brasil

Fil: Pinto, Victor Diniz. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; Brasil

Fil: Vasconcelos, Heraldo. Universidade Federal de Uberlândia; Brasil

Fil: Tito, Richard. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Perú; Perú

Fil: Pereira, Cássio Cardoso. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Carvalho, Bárbara. Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales. Departamento de Biogeografía y Cambio Global; España

Fil: Carvalho, Gabriel M.. Universidad Rey Juan Carlos; España

Fil: del Val, Ek.. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; México

Fil: Buisson, Elise. Avignon Université; Francia

Fil: Arruda, Andre. Avignon Université; Francia

Fil: Toth, Jean Baptiste. Avignon Université; Francia

Fil: Roque, Fabio. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; Brasil

Fil: Souza, Allan Henrique. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; Brasil

Fil: Bolzan, Fabio. Universidade Federal do Mato Grosso do Sul; Brasil

Fil: Neves, Frederico. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Kuchenbecker, Juliana. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Ramos Demetrio, Guilherme. Universidade Federal de Alagoas; Brasil

Fil: Seixas, Luziene. Universidade Federal de Alagoas; Brasil

Fil: Romero, Gustavo. Universidade Estadual de Campinas; Brasil

Fil: de Omena, Paula Munhoz. Universidade Federal do Pará; Brasil

Fil: Silva, Jhonathan O.. Universidade Federal do Vale do São Francisco; Brasil

Fil: Paolucci, Lucas. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; Brasil

Fil: Queiroz, Elenir. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; Brasil

Fil: Ooi, Mark K. J.. School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences; Australia

Fil: Mills, Charlotte H.. School of Biological Earth and Environmental Sciences; Australia

Fil: Gerhold, Pille. University of Tartu; Estonia

Fil: Merzin, Anne. University of Tartu; Estonia

Fil: Massante, Jhonny C.. University of Tartu; Estonia

Fil: Aguilar, Ramiro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina

Fil: Carbone, Lucas Manuel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales. Instituto Multidisciplinario de Biología Vegetal; Argentina

Fil: Campos, Ricardo. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; Brasil

Fil: Gomes, Inácio. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; Brasil

Fil: Zorzal, Gabriela. Universidade Federal de Viçosa.; Brasil

Fil: Solar, Ricardo. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Ramos, Letícia. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil

Fil: Sobrinho, Tathiana. Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; Brasil

Fil: Sanders, Pedro. Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo; Brasil

Fil: Cornelissen, Tatiana. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; Brasil