scholarly journals Data on Herbivore Performance and Plant Herbivore Damage Identify the Same Plant Traits as the Key Drivers of Plant–Herbivore Interaction

Insects ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 865
Author(s):  
Zuzana Münzbergová ◽  
Jiří Skuhrovec
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Leaf Damage ◽  
Herbivore Damage ◽  
Herbivore Performance ◽  
Physical Defense ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Plant Herbivore

Data on plant herbivore damage as well as on herbivore performance have been previously used to identify key plant traits driving plant–herbivore interactions. The extent to which the two approaches lead to similar conclusions remains to be explored. We determined the effect of a free-living leaf-chewing generalist caterpillar, Spodoptera littoralis (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), on leaf damage of 24 closely related plant species from the Carduoideae subfamily and the effect of these plant species on caterpillar growth. We used a wide range of physical defense leaf traits and leaf nutrient contents as the plant traits. Herbivore performance and leaf damage were affected by similar plant traits. Traits related to higher caterpillar mortality (higher leaf dissection, number, length and toughness of spines and lower trichome density) also led to higher leaf damage. This fits with the fact that each caterpillar was feeding on a single plant and, thus, had to consume more biomass of the less suitable plants to obtain the same amount of nutrients. The key plant traits driving plant–herbivore interactions identified based on data on herbivore performance largely corresponded to the traits identified as important based on data on leaf damage. This suggests that both types of data may be used to identify the key plant traits determining plant–herbivore interactions. It is, however, important to carefully distinguish whether the data on leaf damage were obtained in the field or in a controlled feeding experiment, as the patterns expected in the two environments may go in opposite directions.

scholarly journals Latitudinal variation in seed predation correlates with latitudinal variation in seed defensive and nutritional traits in a widespread oak species

2019 ◽  
Vol 125 (6) ◽  
pp. 881-890 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xoaquín Moreira ◽  
Luis Abdala-Roberts ◽  
Hans Henrik Bruun ◽  
Felisa Covelo ◽  
Pieter De Frenne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Seed Predation ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Climatic Factors ◽  
Latitudinal Gradients ◽  
Latitudinal Variation ◽  
Seed Traits ◽  
Plant Defences ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Plant Herbivore ◽  
Herbivore Pressure

Abstract Background and Aims Classic theory on geographical gradients in plant–herbivore interactions assumes that herbivore pressure and plant defences increase towards warmer and more stable climates found at lower latitudes. However, the generality of these expectations has been recently called into question by conflicting empirical evidence. One possible explanation for this ambiguity is that most studies have reported on patterns of either herbivory or plant defences whereas few have measured both, thus preventing a full understanding of the implications of observed patterns for plant–herbivore interactions. In addition, studies have typically not measured climatic factors affecting plant–herbivore interactions, despite their expected influence on plant and herbivore traits. Methods Here we tested for latitudinal variation in insect seed predation and seed traits putatively associated with insect attack across 36 Quercus robur populations distributed along a 20° latitudinal gradient. We then further investigated the associations between climatic factors, seed traits and seed predation to test for climate-based mechanisms of latitudinal variation in seed predation. Key Results We found strong but contrasting latitudinal clines in seed predation and seed traits, whereby seed predation increased whereas seed phenolics and phosphorus decreased towards lower latitudes. We also found a strong direct association between temperature and seed predation, with the latter increasing towards warmer climates. In addition, temperature was negatively associated with seed traits, with populations at warmer sites having lower levels of total phenolics and phosphorus. In turn, these negative associations between temperature and seed traits led to a positive indirect association between temperature and seed predation. Conclusions These results help unravel how plant–herbivore interactions play out along latitudinal gradients and expose the role of climate in driving these outcomes through its dual effects on plant defences and herbivores. Accordingly, this emphasizes the need to account for abiotic variation while testing concurrently for latitudinal variation in plant traits and herbivore pressure.

scholarly journals New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

2013 ◽  
Vol 61 (3) ◽  
pp. 167 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Pérez-Harguindeguy ◽  
S. Díaz ◽  
E. Garnier ◽  
S. Lavorel ◽  
H. Poorter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Ecosystem Properties ◽  
Species Invasions ◽  
Wide Range

Plant functional traits are the features (morphological, physiological, phenological) that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variation in plant functional traits, and trait syndromes, has proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure ecologically meaningful plant traits. This line of research has been among the most fruitful avenues for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. It also has the potential both to build a predictive set of local, regional and global relationships between plants and environment and to quantify a wide range of natural and human-driven processes, including changes in biodiversity, the impacts of species invasions, alterations in biogeochemical processes and vegetation–atmosphere interactions. The importance of these topics dictates the urgent need for more and better data, and increases the value of standardised protocols for quantifying trait variation of different species, in particular for traits with power to predict plant- and ecosystem-level processes, and for traits that can be measured relatively easily. Updated and expanded from the widely used previous version, this handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step recipes, with a minimum of text on theory, and not only includes updated methods for the traits previously covered, but also introduces many new protocols for further traits. This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant traits, leaf traits, root and stem traits and regenerative traits, and puts particular emphasis on traits important for predicting species’ effects on key ecosystem properties. We hope this new handbook becomes a standard companion in local and global efforts to learn about the responses and impacts of different plant species with respect to environmental changes in the present, past and future.

Organisms and their Interactions

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen J. Esler ◽  
Anna L. Jacobsen ◽  
R. Brandon Pratt
Keyword(s):  
Plant Traits ◽  
Root Nodules ◽  
Cluster Roots ◽  
Adaptive Traits ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Plant Seed ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Plant Herbivore ◽  
Nutrient Extraction ◽  
Plant Pollinator

Both animal and plant species exhibit adaptive traits related to features of mediterranean-type ecosystems (MTEs). For plants, the seasonality of the MTC has been an important factor in the evolution of plant phenological traits. Root adaptive traits that improve nutrient extraction from impoverished soils are present within MTC regions, including cluster roots, root nodules, and mycorrhizal symbioses. Fire has been an important driver of plant traits, such as smoke, charate, or heat-induced seed germination or seed release (i.e. serotiny), and post-fire flowering. Adaptive traits in animals include both physiological and behavioural traits. MTC regions have been used in the study of many ecological and evolutionary patterns, particularly as related to organismal adaptations to unique soil and substrates (edaphic communities) and interactions between plants and animals, such as plant–herbivore interactions, plant–pollinator interactions, and plant–seed disperser interactions. These interactions shape many plant and animal characters within MTC regions.

scholarly journals Corrigendum to: New handbook for standardised measurement of plant functional traits worldwide

2016 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 715 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Pérez-Harguindeguy ◽  
S. Díaz ◽  
E. Garnier ◽  
S. Lavorel ◽  
H. Poorter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Functional Traits ◽  
Environmental Changes ◽  
Plant Traits ◽  
Leaf Traits ◽  
Plant Functional Traits ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Evolutionary Patterns ◽  
Ecosystem Properties ◽  
Species Invasions ◽  
Wide Range

Plant functional traits are the features (morphological, physiological, phenological) that represent ecological strategies and determine how plants respond to environmental factors, affect other trophic levels and influence ecosystem properties. Variation in plant functional traits, and trait syndromes, has proven useful for tackling many important ecological questions at a range of scales, giving rise to a demand for standardised ways to measure ecologically meaningful plant traits. This line of research has been among the most fruitful avenues for understanding ecological and evolutionary patterns and processes. It also has the potential both to build a predictive set of local, regional and global relationships between plants and environment and to quantify a wide range of natural and human-driven processes, including changes in biodiversity, the impacts of species invasions, alterations in biogeochemical processes and vegetation–atmosphere interactions. The importance of these topics dictates the urgent need for more and better data, and increases the value of standardised protocols for quantifying trait variation of different species, in particular for traits with power to predict plant- and ecosystem-level processes, and for traits that can be measured relatively easily. Updated and expanded from the widely used previous version, this handbook retains the focus on clearly presented, widely applicable, step-by-step recipes, with a minimum of text on theory, and not only includes updated methods for the traits previously covered, but also introduces many new protocols for further traits. This new handbook has a better balance between whole-plant traits, leaf traits, root and stem traits and regenerative traits, and puts particular emphasis on traits important for predicting species' effects on key ecosystem properties. We hope this new handbook becomes a standard companion in local and global efforts to learn about the responses and impacts of different plant species with respect to environmental changes in the present, past and future.

scholarly journals Fatty Alcohols, a Minor Component of the Tree Tobacco Surface Wax, Reduce Insect Herbivory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boaz Negin ◽  
Lior Shachar ◽  
Sagit Meir ◽  
Claudio C Ramirez ◽  
Abraham Rami Horowitz ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Fatty Alcohol ◽  
Insect Herbivory ◽  
Egg Laying ◽  
Fatty Alcohols ◽  
Nicotiana Glauca ◽  
Surface Wax ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Plant Herbivore ◽  
Wax Load

Despite decades of research resulting in a comprehensive understanding of epicuticular wax biosynthesis and metabolism, the function of these almost ubiquitous metabolites in plant-herbivore interactions remains unresolved. To develop a better understanding of this role, we investigated plant-herbivore interactions in four Nicotiana glauca (tree tobacco) genome edited mutants. This included [eceriferum1 (cer1), eceriferum3 (cer3), beta-ketoacyl-coA synthase6 (kcs6), and fatty acyl-coA reductase (far)] displaying a wide range of alkane and fatty alcohol abundances. Three interaction classes were examined: chewing herbivory with seven caterpillar and one snail species, phloem feeding with Myzus persicae (green peach aphid), and egg laying with Bemisia tabaci (sweet potato whitefly). We found that high wax load and alkane abundance did not reduce caterpillar or snail herbivory. However, fatty alcohol content was negatively correlated with caterpillar growth, suggesting a role in reducing insect herbivory despite its lower levels. Aphid reproduction and feeding activity were not correlated with wax load and composition but are potentially affected by altered cutin composition of cer1 mutants. When examining non-feeding activities, wax crystal morphology could explain the preference of B. tabaci to lay eggs on wildtype plants relative to cer1 and far mutants. Accordingly, the fatty alcohol wax component reduces caterpillar herbivory on the chemical level, but oviposition is increased when wax crystals are dense. The results suggest that this varied response between herbivore classes and species, at times displaying increased and at times reduced fitness in response to altered wax composition is in part a consequence of co-evolution that shaped the specific effects of different N. glauca metabolites such as anabasine and fatty alcohols in plant-herbivore interactions.

scholarly journals LeafByte: A mobile application that measures leaf area and herbivory quickly and accurately

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe L. Getman-Pickering ◽  
Adam T. Campbell ◽  
Nicholas Aflitto ◽  
Todd A. Ugine ◽  
Ari Grele ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leaf Area ◽  
Plant Tissue ◽  
Mobile Application ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Leaf Damage ◽  
Plant Science ◽  
List Type ◽  
Visual Estimation ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Plant Herbivore

AbstractIn both basic and applied studies, quantification of herbivory on foliage is a key metric in characterizing plant-herbivore interactions, which underpin many ecological, evolutionary, and agricultural processes. Current methods of quantifying herbivory are slow or inaccurate. We present LeafByte, a free iOS application for measuring leaf area and herbivory. LeafByte can save data automatically, read and record barcodes, handle both light and dark colored plant tissue, and be used non-destructively.We evaluate its accuracy and efficiency relative to existing herbivory assessment tools.LeafByte has the same accuracy as ImageJ, the field standard, but is 50% faster. Other tools, such as BioLeaf and grid quantification, are quick and accurate, but limited in the information they can provide. Visual estimation is quickest, but it only provides a coarse measure of leaf damage and tends to overestimate herbivory.LeafByte is a quick and accurate means of measuring leaf area and herbivory, making it a useful tool for research in fields such as ecology, entomology, agronomy, and plant science.

scholarly journals Adaptive divergence and post-zygotic barriers to gene flow between sympatric populations of a herbivorous mite

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ernesto Villacis-Perez ◽  
Simon Snoeck ◽  
Andre H. Kurlovs ◽  
Richard M. Clark ◽  
Johannes A. J. Breeuwer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gene Flow ◽  
Plant Species ◽  
Natural Setting ◽  
Host Race ◽  
Ecological Specialization ◽  
Host Races ◽  
Host Race Formation ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Plant Herbivore ◽  
Race Formation

AbstractPlant-herbivore interactions promote the generation and maintenance of both plant and herbivore biodiversity. The antagonistic interactions between plants and herbivores lead to host race formation: the evolution of herbivore types specializing on different plant species, with restricted gene flow between them. Understanding how ecological specialization promotes host race formation usually depends on artificial approaches, using laboratory experiments on populations associated with agricultural crops. However, evidence on how host races are formed and maintained in a natural setting remains scarce. Here, we take a multidisciplinary approach to understand whether populations of the generalist spider mite Tetranychus urticae form host races in nature. We demonstrate that a host race co-occurs among generalist conspecifics in the dune ecosystem of The Netherlands. Extensive field sampling and genotyping of individuals over three consecutive years showed a clear pattern of host associations. Genome-wide differences between the host race and generalist conspecifics were found using a dense set of SNPs on field-derived iso-female lines and previously sequenced genomes of T. urticae. Hybridization between lines of the host race and sympatric generalist lines is restricted by post-zygotic breakdown, and selection negatively impacts the survival of generalists on the native host of the host race. Our description of a host race among conspecifics with a larger diet breadth shows how ecological and reproductive isolation aid in maintaining intra-specific variation in sympatry, despite the opportunity for homogenization through gene flow. Our findings highlight the importance of explicitly considering the spatial and temporal scale on which plant-herbivore interactions occur in order to identify herbivore populations associated with different plant species in nature. This system can be used to study the underlying genetic architecture and mechanisms that facilitate the use of a large range of host plant taxa by extreme generalist herbivores. In addition, it offers the chance to investigate the prevalence and mechanisms of ecological specialization in nature.

scholarly journals Plant herbivore interactions: combined effect of ground water level, root vole grazing and sedge silication

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zbigniew Borowski ◽  
Karol Zub ◽  
Marcin Sulwinski ◽  
Małgorzata Suska-Malawska ◽  
Marek Konarazewski
Keyword(s):  
Population Density ◽  
Ground Water ◽  
Water Level ◽  
Ground Water Level ◽  
Vole Population ◽  
Root Vole ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Herbivore Interactions ◽  
Hydrological Cycles ◽  
Plant Herbivore

1. Silicon mediated plant–herbivore interactions have gained increasing recognition and have now been studied in a wide range of species. Many studies have also considered accumulation of Si by plants as a process largely driven by geo-hydrological cycles. 2. To identify factors driving the water - plant Si - herbivore nexus we analysed the concentration of Si in fibrous tussock sedge (Carex appropinquata), the population density of the root vole (Microtus oeconomus) and the ground water level, over 11 years. 3. The largest influence of autumn Si concentration in leaves (Sileaf) was the level of the current year’s ground water table, which accounted for 13.3% of its variance. The previous year’s vole population density was weakly positively correlated with Sileaf and alone explained 9.5% of its variance. 4. The only variable found to have a positive, significant effect on autumn Si concentration in rhizomes (Sirhiz) was the current year spring water level explaining as much as 60.9% of its variance. 5. We conclude that the changes in Si concentration in fibrous tussock sedge are predominantly driven by hydrology, with vole population dynamics being secondary. Our results provide only partial support for the existence of plant-herbivore interactions, as we did not detect the significant effects of Si tussock concentration on the vole density dynamics. This was mainly due to low level of silification of sedges, which was insufficient to impinge herbivores. Future studies on plant–herbivore interactions should therefore mainly focus on identification of mechanisms and conditions allowing plants to accumulate silica at the levels sufficient to act as an anti-herbivore protection.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document