Selection exerted by herbivores is a major force driving the evolution of plant defensive characters such as leaf trichomes or secondary metabolites. However, plant defense expression is highly variable among populations and identifying the sources of this variation remains a major challenge. Plant populations are often distributed across broad geographic ranges and are exposed to different herbivore communities, ranging from generalists (that feed on diverse plant species) to specialists (that feed on a restricted group of plants). We studied eight populations of the plant Datura stramonium usually eaten by specialist or generalist herbivores, in order to examine whether the pattern of phenotypic selection on secondary compounds (atropine and scopolamine) and a physical defense (trichome density) can explain geographic variation in these traits. Following co-evolutionary theory, we evaluated whether a more derived alkaloid (scopolamine) confers higher fitness benefits than its precursor (atropine), and whether this effect differs between specialist and generalist herbivores. Our results showed consistent directional selection in almost all populations and herbivores to reduce the concentration of atropine. The most derived alkaloid (scopolamine) was favored in only one of the populations, which is dominated by a generalist herbivore. In general, the patterns of selection support the existence of a selection mosaic and accounts for the positive correlation observed between atropine concentration and plant damage by herbivores recorded in previous studies.

The evolution of plant defense traits has traditionally been explained trough the “coevolutionary arms race” between plants and herbivores. According to this, specialist herbivores have evolved to cope effectively with the defensive traits of their host plants and may even use them as a cue for host location. We analyzed the geographic association between leaf trichomes, two tropane alkaloids (putative resistance traits), and leaf damage by herbivores in 28 populations of Datura stramonium in central Mexico. Since the specialist leaf beetles Epitrix parvula and Lema trilineata are the main herbivores of D. stramonium in central Mexico, we predicted a positive association between plant defense and leaf damage across populations. Also, if physical environmental conditions (temperature or precipitation) constrain the expression of plant defense, then the geographic variation in leaf damage should be explained partially by the interaction between defensive traits and environmental factors. Furthermore, we studied the temporal and spatial variation in leaf trichome density and leaf damage in five selected populations of D. stramonium sampled in two periods (1997 vs. 2007). We found a positive association between leaf trichomes density and atropine concentration with leaf damage across populations. The interaction between defensive traits and water availability in each locality had a significant effect on the geographic variation in leaf damage. Differences among populations in leaf trichome density are maintained over time. Our results indicate that local plant–herbivore interaction plays an important role in shaping the geographic and temporal variation in plant defense in D. stramonium.

• Premise of the study: Wild populations of domesticated species constitute a genetic reservoir and are fundamental to the evolutionary potential of species. Wild papaya (Carica papaya) is a rare, short-lived, gap-colonizing, dioecious tree that persists in the forest by continuous dispersal. Theoretically, these life-history characteristics render wild papaya highly susceptible to habitat fragmentation, with anticipated negative effects on its gene pool. Further, species dioecy may cause founder effects to generate local biases in sex ratio, decreasing effective population size.• Methods: We contrasted the genetic diversity and structure of C. papaya between wild populations from rainforest fragments and continuous forest at Los Tuxtlas, Mexico. We evaluated recent migration rates among populations as well as landscape resistance to gene flow. Finally, we calculated the sex ratio of the populations in both habitats.• Key results: Populations of wild papaya in rainforest fragments showed lower genetic diversity and higher population differentiation than populations in continuous rainforest. Estimates of recent migration rates showed a higher percentage of migrants moving from the continuous forest to the forest fragments than in the opposite direction. Agricultural land and cattle pasture were found to be the most resistant matrices to gene flow. Finally, biased sex ratios were seen to affect the effective population size in both habitats.• Conclusions: The mating system, rarity, and short life cycle of C. papaya are exacerbating the effects of rainforest fragmentation on its genetic diversity, threatening the persistence of its natural populations in the proposed place of origin as well as its genetic reservoir.