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Research Topics

Community ecology

Community ecology

Environmental changes such as habitat loss, agriculture and global warming are altering the composition of animal and plant communities around the world. Understanding these changes requires knowledge of how species interact as their populations vary in time and space. We study structured communities in natural, disturbed and agricultural settings, with an emphasis on (but not limited to!) parasitoid wasps, their butterfly hosts, plants the butterflies feed on, and their diseases and microbial symbionts.
Environmental changes such as habitat loss, agriculture and global warming are altering the composition of animal and plant communities around the world. Understanding these changes requires knowledge of how species interact as their populations vary in time and space. We study structured communities in natural, disturbed and agricultural settings, with an emphasis on (but not limited to!) parasitoid wasps, their butterfly hosts, plants the butterflies feed on, and their diseases and microbial symbionts.

CURRENT RESEARCH IN INDIA

Butterfly-parasitoid community structures in tropical agricultural, urban and natural settings

Papillio polytes on lemon
In this study we are comparing the butterfly-parasitoid communities associated with the plant family Rutaceae, in different ecological settings. Rutaceae include cultivated citrus as well as curry leaf plants that host several Papillio butterflies, all of which are native to India. We are interested in 1) the realized and potential between overlap between parasitoid communities in agricultural, natural and urban settings, and 2) the relative roles of parsitoids, predators, weather, and host plant species and abundances, for the butterflies in each of these settings.

Sacred groves as islands for dung beetles

This project is being conducted by postdoc Suvarna Khadakkar. More info later.

LONGTERM RESEARCH IN THE ÅLAND ISLAND, FINLAND

We have a long term study of the parasitoids of the The Glanville fritillary butterfly metapopulation in Åland, Finland. The butterfly metapopulation is made up of local populations that are dynamic and differ in size, connectivity and age. This is the context experienced by the parasitoids and hyperparasitoids of the butterfly. We use the natural variation within this system to test predictions of (meta)community structure.
The trophic food web of plants, butterflies, parasitoids, and hyperparasitoids

Duplouy, A., Nair, A., Nyman, T., van Nouhuys, S. 2021 Long-term spatiotemporal genetic structure of an accidental parasitoid introduction, and local changes in prevalence of its associated Wolbachia symbiont Molecular Ecology, 30, 4368-4380

Opedal, Ø., Ovaskainen, O., Saastamoinen, M., Laine, A-L., van Nouhuys, S. 2020 Host plant availability drives the spatio-temporal dynamics of interacting metapopulations across a fragmented landscape. Ecology, 101(12):e03186. 10.1002/ecy.3186

Kahilainen, A., van Nouhuys, S., Schulz, T. & Saastamoinen, M. 2018 Metapopulation dynamics in a changing climate: Increasing spatial synchrony in weather conditions drives metapopulation synchrony of a butterfly inhabiting a fragmented landscape Global Change Biology, 24: 10.1111/gcb.14280

van Nouhuys, S., Hanski, I. 2005 Metacommunities of butterflies and their parasitoids. In Metacommunities: Spatial Dynamics and Ecological Communities (M. Leibold, R. Holt and M. Holyoak eds.). University of Chicago Press. pp. 99-121 

Food chain length and contrasting spatial scales of parasitoid populations

One important prediction of metacommunity structure is that food chain length decreases with habitat fragmentation. That is, the negative affect of habitat fragmentation increase with trophic level. We approach this idea several ways using the plant-butterfly-parasitoid-hyperparasitoid food chains in Åland.

van Nouhuys, S. 2005. Effects of habitat fragmentation at different trophic levels in insect communities. Annales Zoologici Fennici, 42: 433–447

van Nouhuys, S. & Hanski, I. 2002. Multitrophic interactions in space: metacommunity dynamics in fragmented landscapes. In Multitrophic level interactions (T. Tscharntke & B. A. Hawkins eds.) Cambridge University Press. pp. 124-147 

Indirect interactions in the metacommunity

Species interact indirectly through shared enemies (apparent competition), or through intermediate species, such as an herbivore that is experienced by both its food plants and its parasitoids (Multitrophic interactions). These indirect interactions vary spatially, and can influence the large scale population dynamics of species and community structure.

Wang, S., Brose, U., van Nouhuys S., Holt R. D., Loreau, M. 2021. Metapopulation capacity determines food chain length in fragmented landscapes. PNAS, 118 (34) e2102733118

Opedal OH, Ovaskainen O, Saastamoinen M, Laine AL, van Nouhuys S. 2020. Host-plant availability drives the spatiotemporal dynamics of interacting metapopulations across a fragmented landscape. Ecology 101: e03186

Nieminen, M. and van Nouhuys, S. 2017. The roles of trophic interactions, competition and landscape in determining metacommunity structure of a seed-feeding weevil and its parasitoids. Ann. Zool. Fennici, 54: 83-96

van Nouhuys, S. and Kraft, T. S. 2012. Indirect interaction between butterflies meditated by a shared pupal parasitoid. Population Ecology, 54: 251-260

van Nouhuys, S. & I. Hanski 2000. Apparent competition between parasitoids mediated by a shared hyperparasitoid. Ecology Letters, 3: 82-84 

van Nouhuys, S. & I. Hanski 2002. Multitrophic interactions in space: metacommunity dynamics in fragmented landscapes. In Multitrophic level interactions (T. Tscharntke & B. A. Hawkins eds.) Cambridge University Press. pp. 124-147 

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