Currently, plants, arthropods and fungi are the dominant elements in terrestrial ecosystems. A web of ecological interrelationships intricately interweaves these three groups. Although profound aspects of these interactions have been studied extensively by neobiologists, plant fossils provide multiple lines of evidence to examine the evolutionary biology of plant–arthropod interactions during the geological past. Recent developments in analytical techniques in paleobiology has allowed greater understanding of the macroevolutionary history of plant–arthropod interactions. Notably, the damage-type system of analysis, involving discrete types of insect-mediated damage occurring on plant compression fossils has made it possible to analyze herbivore assemblages quantitatively across a range of spatiotemporal scales.
Because the fossil record of plant–arthropod interactions refers importantly to modern analogs of damage, the basic understanding of damage-type analyses heavily relies on our knowledge of the modern world. Although studies of natural history are highly compatible with paleoecological approaches, neobiological studies have not been overtly influenced by the paleoecological techniques and data.
In this symposium, paleobiologists and neobiologists will be brought together to present their examinations of the fossil and modern interactions. It is hoped that this symposium will be an opportunity for neobiologists to integrate new and different approaches allowing both disciplines to reciprocally invigorate each other.
Commentator: Atsushi Kawakita (Univ. Tokyo)