DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2jm63xt1w
title: Global study of plant-herbivore interactions reveals similar patterns of herbivory across native and non-native plants

description: A core hypothesis in invasion and community ecology is that species
 interaction patterns should differ between native and non-native species
 due to non-native species lacking a long evolutionary history in their
 resident communities. Numerous studies testing this hypothesis yield
 conflicting results, often focusing on mean interaction rates and
 overlooking the substantial within-population variability in species
 interactions. We explored plant-herbivore interactions in populations of
 native and established non-native plant species by quantifying differences
 in mean herbivory and added a novel approach by comparing
 within-population variability in herbivory. We include as covariates
 latitude, plant richness, plant growth form, and cover. Using leaf
 herbivory data from the Herbivory Variability Network for 788 plant
 populations spanning 504 species globally distributed, we found no overall
 differences in mean herbivory or variability between native and non-native
 plants. These results suggest native and established non-native plants
 interact similarly with herbivores, indicating non-native status is not a
 strong predictor of ecological roles.
description: # Global study of plant-herbivore interactions reveals similar patterns of
 herbivory across native and non-native plants Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.2jm63xt1w](10.5061/dryad.2jm63xt1w) ## Description of the
 data and file structure These datasets and set of scripts were produced
 using data collected by The Herbivory Variability Network. We used the
 data and scripts to perform a global comparison of plant-herbivore
 interactions between populations of native and non-native species using
 788 surveys of 504 plant species. We include as covariates latitude, plant
 richness, plant growth form and cover to test for the effect of
 environmental factors in plant-herbivore interactions for both groups of
 plants.  The website of the network is [herbvar.org](https://herbvar.org).
 ### Files and variables #### File:
 01_HV_Native_status_Load_data_and_build_tree.R **Description:** Loads the
 data files, builds the phylogenetic tree, and sets priors for all beta
 models #### File: 02_HV_Native_status__Bayesian_Regression_Models.R
 **Description:** Models global patterns in herbivory means and the Gini
 coefficient, including the effect of plant status and the environmental
 covariates. It also include a model testing for the effect of introduction
 time for non-native species.   #### File:
 03_HV_Native_status_Bayesian_Regression_Models_2RangesSpecies.R
 **Description:** Models patterns in herbivory means and the Gini
 coefficient, including the effect of plant status and environmental
 covariates for 10 plant species with populations in their native and in
 their introduced ranges.  #### File:
 HV_Native_status_NonNatives_time_data.csv **Description:** Dataset for the
 populations of non-native plant species including information on the
 introduction time. ##### Variables * surveyID: ID for the population
 survey * SpsCoords: ID for the population survey, including species name,
 country and status where it was sampled * Lat: The latitude of the survey
 site * species: Genus and species of the plant surveyed * plantMean: The
 mean percent herbivory in the survey (%) * plantMeanProp: The mean
 proportion herbivory in the survey * plantMeanPropLogit: The logit mean
 proportion herbivory in the survey * plantGini: The Gini coefficient of
 herbivory in the survey * plantGiniAdj: The adjusted Gini coefficient of
 herbivory in the survey (see methods) * plantGiniAdjLogit: The logit
 adjusted Gini coefficient of herbivory in the survey (see methods) *
 MinYear: The earliest year the non-native species was reported in the
 sampled region #### File: HV_Native_status_data_survey_level.csv
 **Description:** Global database with data for 788 native and non-native
 plant populations of 504 plant speceis ##### Variables * surveyID: ID for
 the population survey * SpsCoords: ID for the population survey, including
 species name, country and status where it was sampled * Lat: The latitude
 of the survey site * Lat_abs: The absolute value of the latitude of the
 survey site (decimal degrees) * Lat_abs_scale: The scaled absolute value
 of the latitude of the survey site (decimal degrees) * Genus_sp: Genus and
 species of the plant surveyed * species: Genus and species of the plant
 surveyed * plantFamily: Taxonomic family of the plant species *
 plantMean: The mean percent herbivory in the survey (%) *
 plantMeanProp: The mean proportion herbivory in the survey *
 plantMeanPropLogit: The logit mean proportion herbivory in the survey *
 plantGini: The Gini coefficient of herbivory in the survey *
 plantGiniAdj: The adjusted Gini coefficient of herbivory in the survey
 (see methods) * plantGiniAdjLogit: The logit adjusted Gini coefficient of
 herbivory in the survey (see methods) * focalPlantCoverMean: The average
 cover of the focal plant species within the survey * W_NW: Species growth
 form: Woody or non woody * nativeStatus: The plant status where the
 population was sampled: native or exotic * Naturalized_Status: The plant
 naturalization status where the population was sampled: naturalized or not
 naturalized * Invasive_Status: The plant invasive status where the
 population was sampled: invasive or not invasive * Diversity100: Plant
 species richness (estimated number of plant species per 100m2) for the
 study site, obtained from sPlot * Diversity100allProp: The adjusted plant
 species richness * Diversity100allPropLogit: The logit adjusted plant
 species richness ## Code/software We include three R scripts that were
 built in R version 4.3.0.  The script "01_HV Native status_Load data
 and build tree" Loads the data files, builds the phylogenetic tree,
 and sets priors for all beta models. It includes all the loaded packages
 needed to run the code and perform the analyses.  The script "02_HV
 Native status\_ Bayesian Regression Models" is to be run after the
 previous one, it models patterns in herbivory means and the Gini
 coefficient, including the effect of environmental covariates for the
 global dataset of 788 populations of 504 plant species.  The script
 "03_HV Native status_Bayesian Regression Models_2RangesSpecies"
 is a continuation of the previous two, and it models patterns in herbivory
 means and the Gini coefficient, including the effect of environmental
 covariates for the subset of 10 plant species with populations in their
 native and introduced range.  ## Access information Other publicly
 accessible locations of the data: * We used data from the Herbivory
 Variability Network ([https://herbvar.org/](https://herbvar.org/)); the
 original dataset can be accessed online via
 GitHub: [https://github.com/HerbVar-Network](https://github.com/HerbVar-Network), and it has been published in DRYAD (*doi*.org/*10.5061*/*dryad*.*44j0zpckm*). Data was derived from the following sources: * We extracted plant species richness for our study sites from sPlot (Sabatini et al., 2022).  * We got information on the native, naturalized or invasive status of our populations in the sampling sites from the Plants of the World Online database (POWO, 2024), the Global Naturalized Alien Flora (GloNAF; van Kleunen et al., 2019) and the CABI Digital Library (cabidigitallibrary.org). * We collected non-native introduction dates by using Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF; gbif.org). REFERENCES:  POWO (2024). “Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; [http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/](http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/) Retrieved 30 January 2024.” In “Plants of the World Online. Facilitated by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Published on the Internet; [http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/](http://www.plantsoftheworldonline.org/) Retrieved 30 January 2024.” Sabatini, F. M., Jiménez-Alfaro, B., Jandt, U., Chytrý, M., Field, R., Kessler, M., Lenoir, J., Schrodt, F., Wiser, S. K., Arfin Khan, M. A. S., Attorre, F., Cayuela, L., De Sanctis, M., Dengler, J., Haider, S., Hatim, M. Z., Indreica, A., Jansen, F., Pauchard, A., … Bruelheide, H. (2022). Global patterns of vascular plant alpha diversity. Nature Communications, 13(1), 4683. [https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32063-z](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32063-z) van Kleunen, M., Pyšek, P., Dawson, W., Essl, F., Kreft, H., Pergl, J., Weigelt, P., Stein, A., Dullinger, S., König, C., Lenzner, B., Maurel, N., Moser, D., Seebens, H., Kartesz, J., Nishino, M., Aleksanyan, A., Ansong, M., Antonova, L. A., … Winter, M. (2019). The Global Naturalized Alien Flora (Glo NAF ) database. Ecology, 100(1). [https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2542](https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2542)