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Interactions between plants and herbivores are central in most ecosystems, but their strength is highly variable. The amount of variability within a system is thought to influence most aspects of plant-herbivore biology, from ecological stability to plant defense evolution. Our understanding of what influences variability, however, is limited by sparse data. We collected standardized surveys of herbivory for 503 plant species at 790 sites across 116° of latitude. With these data, we show that within-population variability in herbivory increases with latitude, decreases with plant size, and is phylogenetically structured. Differences in the magnitude of variability are thus central to how plant-herbivore biology varies across macroscale gradients. We argue that increased focus on interaction variability will advance understanding of patterns of life on Earth.

 

Abstract The production of $$\pi ^{\pm }$$ π ± , $$\mathrm{K}^{\pm }$$ K ± , $$\mathrm{K}^{0}_{S}$$ K S 0 , $$\mathrm{K}^{*}(892)^{0}$$ K ∗ ( 892 ) 0 , $$\mathrm{p}$$ p , $$\phi (1020)$$ ϕ ( 1020 ) , $$\Lambda $$ Λ , $$\Xi ^{-}$$ Ξ - , $$\Omega ^{-}$$ Ω - , and their antiparticles was measured in inelastic proton–proton (pp) collisions at a center-of-mass energy of $$\sqrt{s}$$ s = 13 TeV at midrapidity ( $$|y|<0.5$$ | y | < 0.5 ) as a function of transverse momentum ( $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T ) using the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. Furthermore, the single-particle $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T distributions of $$\mathrm{K}^{0}_{S}$$ K S 0 , $$\Lambda $$ Λ , and $$\overline{\Lambda }$$ Λ ¯ in inelastic pp collisions at $$\sqrt{s} = 7$$ s = 7  TeV are reported here for the first time. The $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T distributions are studied at midrapidity within the transverse momentum range $$0\le p_{\mathrm{T}}\le 20$$ 0 ≤ p T ≤ 20 GeV/ c , depending on the particle species. The $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T spectra, integrated yields, and particle yield ratios are discussed as a function of collision energy and compared with measurements at lower $$\sqrt{s}$$ s and with results from various general-purpose QCD-inspired Monte Carlo models. A hardening of the spectra at high $$p_{\mathrm{T}}$$ p T with increasing collision energy is observed, which is similar for all particle species under study. The transverse mass and $$x_{\mathrm{T}}\equiv 2p_{\mathrm{T}}/\sqrt{s}$$ x T ≡ 2 p T / s scaling properties of hadron production are also studied. As the collision energy increases from $$\sqrt{s}$$ s = 7–13 TeV, the yields of non- and single-strange hadrons normalized to the pion yields remain approximately constant as a function of $$\sqrt{s}$$ s , while ratios for multi-strange hadrons indicate enhancements. The $$p_\mathrm{{T}}$$ p T -differential cross sections of $$\pi ^{\pm }$$ π ± , $$\mathrm {K}^{\pm }$$ K ± and $$\mathrm {p}$$ p ( $$\overline{\mathrm{p}}$$ p ¯ ) are compared with next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculations, which are found to overestimate the cross sections for $$\pi ^{\pm }$$ π ± and $$\mathrm{p}$$ p ( $$\overline{\mathrm{p}}$$ p ¯ ) at high $$p_\mathrm{{T}}$$ p T . 

A bstract The inclusive production of the J/ ψ and ψ (2S) charmonium states is studied as a function of centrality in p-Pb collisions at a centre-of-mass energy per nucleon pair $$ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ s NN = 8 . 16 TeV at the LHC. The measurement is performed in the dimuon decay channel with the ALICE apparatus in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals − 4 . 46 < y cms < − 2 . 96 (Pb-going direction) and 2 . 03 < y cms < 3 . 53 (p-going direction), down to zero transverse momentum ( p T ). The J/ ψ and ψ (2S) production cross sections are evaluated as a function of the collision centrality, estimated through the energy deposited in the zero degree calorimeter located in the Pb-going direction. The p T -differential J/ ψ production cross section is measured at backward and forward rapidity for several centrality classes, together with the corresponding average 〈 p T 〉 and $$ \left\langle {p}_{\mathrm{T}}^2\right\rangle $$ p T 2 values. The nuclear effects affecting the production of both charmonium states are studied using the nuclear modification factor. In the p-going direction, a suppression of the production of both charmonium states is observed, which seems to increase from peripheral to central collisions. In the Pb-going direction, however, the centrality dependence is different for the two states: the nuclear modification factor of the J/ ψ increases from below unity in peripheral collisions to above unity in central collisions, while for the ψ (2S) it stays below or consistent with unity for all centralities with no significant centrality dependence. The results are compared with measurements in p-Pb collisions at $$ \sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}} $$ s NN = 5 . 02 TeV and no significant dependence on the energy of the collision is observed. Finally, the results are compared with theoretical models implementing various nuclear matter effects.