Before the ‘Big Chill’: Patterns of plant-insect associations from the Neogene of Iceland

摘要: Abstract Iceland is the only known terrestrial place in subarctic North Atlantic providing a fairly continuous sedimentary and plant fossil record over past 15 million years. While basic palaeobotanical framework of this pattern has been well established during last decade, less attention paid to abundant insect traces on leaves/leaflets. Here, we assess diversity frequency herbivory 4349 angiosperm leaves/leaflets from six plant-bearing formations exposed at 18 localities. By combining analyses environmental factors, species interactions, ecology, biogeography, geological history, our results demonstrate how patterns have changed time relation temperature fluctuations that profoundly influenced levels insect-mediated damage frequency. In addition, higher structural complexity, particularly establishment species-rich herb layer communities seems positively structure early late Miocene palaeoforests Iceland.