DOI: 10.5061/dryad.jj3s0
title: Data from: Soil fertility and parasitoids shape herbivore selection on plants

description: 1. Although plants and herbivores interact under varying soil resources
 and natural enemy effects, little is known about how these factors
 influence plant-herbivore interactions and shape the evolution of plant
 and herbivore traits. Here we ask whether soil fertility and parasitoids
 shape selection on fruit number imposed by a seed predator (SP) on the
 perennial herb Ruellia nudiflora. 2. We used a common garden where half
 the plants of 14 genetic families were fertilized, and recorded the
 abundance of cleistogamous (CL) fruits and seeds, SPs, and parasitoids. We
 calculated relative fitness per family based on CL seed number under the
 following three scenarios: Three trophic levels (accounting for SP and
 parasitoid effects), two trophic levels (accounting for SP but not
 parasitoid effects), and one trophic level (fitness in absence of SPs),
 and compared selection strength on fruit number between trophic scenarios
 and fertility environments. 3. In unfertilized conditions, SPs selected
 for increased CL fruit number, whereas parasitoids dampened (but did not
 eliminate) this selective impact. With fertilization, however, selection
 by SPs was reduced and unaffected by parasitoids. 4. Synthesis: Overall,
 we show that parasitoids can shape herbivore selection on plants, but that
 both herbivore and parasitoid selective impacts depend upon the abiotic
 environment. These findings underscore how linkages between abiotic
 factors and trophic complexity influence the ecological and evolutionary
 outcomes of species interactions.
description: Fruit, seed predator,
 and parasitoid abundanceData were collected in
 the field from a common garden experiment conducted in 2011, near the town
 of Molas (Yucatan, México). These data include the number of fruits, seed
 predators, and parasitoids recorded per plant, used to analyze and
 describe insect functional responses. Abbreviated headlines are as follows
 (from left to right): plant maternal family ("genotype"),
 fertility treatment (NF = not fertilized, F = fertilized,
 "treatment"), individual plant sampled ("plant"),
 number of sampled fruits ("fruit#"), number of fruits with a
 seed predator or seed predator abundance ("seedpredator#"), and
 number of attacked fruits by the seed predator with a parasitoid or
 parasitoid abundance ("parasitoid#"). Data were collected over a
 two-month period (November-December) in 2011.fruit_insect_abundance.csvseedsrescued_fitnessData were collected in the field from a common garden experiment conducted in 2011, near the town of Molas (Yucatan, México). These data include the number of fruits, seed predators, and seeds rescued by parasitoids from seed predator consumption, used to calculate relative fitness under scenarios of: one trophic level (potential seed number, i.e. fruit#*mean # of seeds per fruit), two trophic levels (potential seed # - seeds consumed by seed predators assuming no seed rescue [seed predator #*mean # of seeds per fruit]), and three trophic levels ([potential seed # - seeds consumed] + seeds rescued by parasitoids). Abbreviated headlines are as follows (from left to right): plant maternal family ("genotype"), fertility treatment (NF = not fertilized, F = fertilized, "treatment"), individual plant sampled ("plant"), number of recorded fruits ("fruit#"), number of fruits with a seed predator (i.e. seed predator abundance, "seedpredator#"), number of seeds consumed by seed predators assuming no seed rescue ("consumedseed#(no rescue)"), and the number of rescued seeds by parasitoids ("rescuedseed#"). Data were collected over a two-month period (November-December) in 2011.Seeds per fruit per genotypeData were collected in the field from a common garden experiment conducted in 2011, near the town of Molas (Yucatan, México). Data are the mean number of seeds per fruit for each of 14 maternal plant families, shown separately for each of two levels of soil fertilization. These means were used to calculate the potential number of seeds produced per plant (# of fruits recorded*mean # of seeds for the appropriate family-treatment combination). Abbreviated headlines are as follows (from left to right): plant maternal family ("genotype"), mean number of seeds per fruit in fertilized conditions ("#seedsperfruitF"), and mean number of seeds per fruit in unfertilized conditions ("seedsperfruitNF"). Data were collected over a two-month period (November-December) in 2011.seedsperfruit.csv