Creating robust datasets of plant–insect interactions is important for understanding ecosystem dynamics, and data on species interactions can be used to evaluate conservation interventions. In the present work, we collected plant–herbivore–parasitoid data on an understudied but critical ecosystem—gallery forests in the Brazilian cerrado. We collected caterpillars on shrubs of Piper (Piperaceae) over the course of a year in seven gallery forests of varying sizes in order to compare seasonal changes in α- and β- diversity and tritrophic interaction networks as well as the role of fragment size in determining species and interaction diversity. Caterpillars were more abundant and diverse in the wet season and also increased with resource availability—the more Piper individuals present, the greater the abundance and richness of herbivores. The number of unique interactions between (i) plants and herbivores and (ii) herbivores and parasitoids did not change across seasons, but there was a high degree of turnover in the herbivore fauna between sites and seasons. Specialization was greatest in the dry-rainy season transition, when new leaves typically flush. Consistent with records of parasitism rates in the cerrado sensu stricto, parasitism in the gallery forests was greatest in the dry-rainy seasons. Forest size was not related to caterpillar richness. Overall, this work demonstrates the conservation value of gallery forests in supporting plant species that span the Amazon and the Atlantic Rainforest as well as diverse and highly seasonal trophic interactions.

创建可靠的植物-昆虫相互作用数据集对于理解生态系统动态非常重要，物种相互作用数据可用于评估保护干预措施。在目前的工作中，我们在巴西塞拉多的一个未被充分研究但至关重要的生态系统——画廊森林中收集了植物-食草动物-寄生物数据。我们在一年中在七个不同大小的画廊森林中收集了胡椒（胡椒科）灌木上的毛虫，以比较α - 和β - 多样性和三营养相互作用网络的季节性变化以及碎片大小在确定中的作用物种和相互作用的多样性。毛毛虫在雨季更加丰富多样，并且随着资源的可用性而增加——越多Piper个体存在时，食草动物的丰度和丰富度就越大。(i) 植物和食草动物和 (ii) 食草动物和寄生蜂之间的独特相互作用的数量在不同季节之间没有变化，但在不同地点和季节之间，食草动物群的周转率很高。特化在旱雨季过渡期最为明显，此时新叶通常齐平。与严格意义上的塞拉多的寄生率记录一致，画廊森林中的寄生性在旱雨季最为严重。森林大小与毛虫丰富度无关。总的来说，这项工作证明了画廊森林在支持跨越亚马逊和大西洋雨林的植物物种以及多样化和高度季节性的营养相互作用方面的保护价值。