The impact of plant chemical diversity on plant–herbivore interactions at the community level

Oecologia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 181 (4) ◽  
pp. 1199-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Salazar ◽  
Alejandra Jaramillo ◽  
Robert J. Marquis
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (50) ◽  
pp. 129-132
Author(s):  
Udaya Wickramasinghe ◽  
R.W.K. Punchihewa ◽  
Shamali Kumari ◽  
Faiz Marikar

Earthworms are keystone detritivores that can influence primary producers by changing seedbed conditions, soil characteristics, flow of water, nutrients and carbon, and plant-herbivore interactions. Our objective was to understand the impact of weather conditions on the number of species found and the relationship between the biomass and temperature and rainfall conditions in cultivated coconut and cinnamon lands in Sri Lanka. Earthworms were collected from Hakmana, Walasmulla, and Deiyandara districts from Sri Lanka. In this study we found a significant relationship between earthworm biomass and temperature in cinnamon soil, but there was no significant difference related to temperature and rainfall in coconut lands compared with cinnamon lands. The correlation between earthworm biomass and rainfall was weak. Also, we found no relationship between the number of species and temperature and rainfall conditions. The results indicated that the number of species was reduced due to climate change and that cinnamon lands provided good conditions for earthworms.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Huang ◽  
Valentin Gfeller ◽  
Matthias Erb

AbstractVolatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted by plant roots can influence the germination and growth of neighboring plants. However, little is known about the effects of root VOCs on plant-herbivore interactions. The spotted knapeed (Centaurea stoebe) constitutively releases high amounts of sesquiterpenes into the rhizosphere. Here, we examine the impact of C. stoebe root VOCs on primary and secondary metabolites of sympatric Taraxacum officinale plants and the resulting plant-mediated effects on a generalist root herbivore, the white grub Melolontha melolontha. We show that exposure of T. officinale to C. stoebe root VOCs does not affect the accumulation of defensive secondary metabolites, but modulates carbohydrate and total protein levels in T. officinale roots. Furthermore, VOC exposure increases M. melolontha growth on T. officinale plants. Exposure of T. officinale to a major C. stoebe root VOC, the sesquiterpene (E)-β-caryophyllene, partially mimics the effect of the full root VOC blend on M. melolontha growth. Thus, releasing root VOCs can modify plant-herbivore interactions of neighboring plants. The release of VOCs to increase the susceptibility of other plants may be a form of plant offense.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nia M Johnson ◽  
Regina S Baucom

Natural populations evolve in response to biotic and abiotic changes in their environment, which shape species interactions and ecosystem dynamics. Agricultural systems can introduce novel conditions via herbicide exposure to non-crop habitats in surrounding fields. While herbicide drift is known to produce a variety of toxic effects in plants, little is known about its impact on non-target wildlife species interactions. In a two-year study, we investigated the impact of herbicide drift on plant-herbivore interactions with common weed velvetleaf (Abutlion theophrasti) as the focal species. The findings reveal a significant increase in the phloem feeding silverleaf whitefly (Bermisia tabaci) abundance on the plants exposed to herbicide at drift rates of 0.5% and 1% of the field dose. Additionally, we found evidence that drift imposes correlated selection on whitefly resistance and growth rate as well as positive linear selection on herbicide resistance. We also identified a significant phenotypic tradeoff between whitefly resistance and herbicide resistance in addition to whitefly resistance and relative growth rate in the presence of dicamba drift. These findings suggest herbicide exposure to non-target communities can significantly alter herbivore populations, potentially impacting biodiversity and community dynamics of weed populations found at the agro-ecological interface.


2017 ◽  
Vol 106 (1) ◽  
pp. 347-356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Huang ◽  
Elias Zwimpfer ◽  
Maxime R. Hervé ◽  
Zoe Bont ◽  
Matthias Erb

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S59-S60
Author(s):  
Stephanie A Mason ◽  
Emma L Gause ◽  
Helena Archer ◽  
Stephen H Sibbett ◽  
Radha K Holavanahalli ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction Individual- and community-level socioeconomic disparities impact overall health and injury incidence, severity, and outcomes. However, the impact of community-level socioeconomic disparities on recovery after burn injury is unknown. We aimed to characterize the association between community-level socioeconomic disparities and health-related quality of life (HRQL) after burn injury. These findings might inform rehabilitation service delivery and policy making at administrative levels. Methods Participants with the NIDILRR Burn Model System who were ≥14 years with a zip code were included. Sociodemographic and injury characteristics and 12-item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and Veterans RAND (VR-12) physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) component summary scores 6 months after injury were extracted. Data were deterministically linked by zip code to the Distressed Communities Index (DCI), which combines seven census-derived metrics into a single indicator of economic well-being that ranges from 0 (lowest distress) to 100 (highest distress). Multilevel linear regression models estimated the association between DCI and HRQL. Results The 342 participants were mostly male (239, 69%) had a median age of 48 years (IQR 33–57) and sustained a median burn size of 10% TBSA (IQR 3–28%). More than one-third of participants (117, 34%) lived in a neighborhood within the two most distressed quintiles. After adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, and pre-injury HRQL, increasing neighborhood distress was negatively associated with PCS (ß-0.05, SE 0.02, p=0.01). Age and pre-injury PCS were also significantly associated with 6-month PCS. There was no association between neighborhood distress and 6-month MCS. However, pre-injury MCS was significantly associated with 6-month MCS (0.56, SE 0.07, p< 0.001). Conclusions Neighborhood distress is associated with lower PCS after burn injury but is not associated with MCS. Regardless of neighborhood distress, pre-injury HRQL is significantly associated with both PCS and MCS during recovery.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ethan Bass ◽  
André Kessler

Zu et al (Science, 19 Jun 2020, p. 1377) propose that an ‘information arms-race’ between plants and herbivores explains plant-herbivore communication at the community level. However, our analysis shows that key assumptions of the proposed model either a) conflict with standard evolutionary theory or b) are not supported by the available evidence. We also show that the presented statistical patterns can be explained more parsimoniously (e.g. through a null model) without invoking an unlikely process of community selection.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meret Huber ◽  
Thomas Roder ◽  
Sandra Irmisch ◽  
Alexander Riedel ◽  
Saskia Gablenz ◽  
...  

Gut enzymes can metabolize plant defense metabolites and thereby affect the growth and fitness of insect herbivores. Whether these enzymes also influence herbivore behavior and feeding preference is largely unknown. We studied the metabolization of taraxinic acid β-D-glucopyranosyl ester (TA-G), a sesquiterpene lactone of the common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) that deters its major root herbivore, the common cockchafer larva (Melolontha melolontha). We demonstrate that TA-G is rapidly deglycosylated and conjugated to glutathione in the insect gut. A broad-spectrum M. melolontha β-glucosidase, Mm_bGlc17, is sufficient and necessary for TA-G deglycosylation. Using plants and insect RNA interference, we show that Mm_bGlc17 reduces TA-G toxicity. Furthermore, Mm_bGlc17 is required for the preference of M. melolontha larvae for TA-G deficient plants. Thus, herbivore metabolism modulates both the toxicity and deterrence of a plant defense metabolite. Our work illustrates the multifacteted roles of insect digestive enzymes as mediators of plant-herbivore interactions.


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