Effects of phenological shifts on outcomes of host-parasitoid interactions
Phenological shifts had the strongest effect on the strength and persistence of the host-parasitoid interactions and this effect persisted even after accounting for changes across temperatures, resource competition, and presence of alternative host species. This is consistent with other host-parasitoid studies which have highlighted the importance of windows of vulnerability and correct stage (age) in determining the immediate and long-term effects of interactions (Tuda & Shimada 1995; Benrey & Denno 1997; Chi & Su 2006; Stacconi et al. 2015). Thus, any phenological shift that makes this system more or less asynchronous could lead to the destabilization of interactions (Rasmussen et al. 2014; Ren et al. 2020), which suggest that some degree of temporal asynchrony may be required in order to maintain the stability of specialized, antagonistic interactions, such as host-parasitoid or plant-herbivore interactions (Boege & Marquis 2006; Visser et al. 2012; Ren et al. 2020).