Differential allocation and deployment of direct and indirect defences by <i>Vicia sepium</i> along elevation gradients

Rasmann, Sergio; Buri, Aline; Gallot-Lavallée, Marie; Joaquim, Jessica; Purcell, Jessica; Pellissier, Loïc

doi:10.1111/1365-2745.12253

Cited by 59 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 80 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In our study, we did not look specifically for trade‐offs, but as argued above, we observed that plants of cold and dry origin invest more in inducibility of defences, while particularly plants of warm and wet origin invest more in the constitutive production of VOCs. This is in line with previous work by Rasmann, Buri, et al () along elevation gradients. It was shown that Vicia sepium plants growing at low elevation, where herbivore pressure is strong, produce constitutively a copious amount of VOCs in their above‐ground organs for attracting ants, while at the highest elevation end, in environments where herbivores are more haphazardly spread, the inducibility of VOC production is higher.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Plant adaptation to different climates shapes the strengths of chemically mediated tritrophic interactions

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

How plant traits evolve along geographical and climatic gradients has recently received increased attention because of anticipated climate change and associated shifts in insect distribution, whether they are herbivores or predators. This issue is particularly relevant for traits related to growth and anti‐herbivore defence of plants, because both sets of traits are closely tied to fitness, and because being sessile organisms, plants tend to experience strong local selection. Despite widespread recognition that the abiotic environment imposes selection on plant traits, how temperature and water availability independently select for allocation to growth and defence against herbivores is not well‐resolved, and even more so, when considering under‐ground herbivory and tritrophic interactions involving plant herbivores and their predators. To address heritable, climate‐driven variation in root traits mediating tritrophic interactions, we performed a common garden experiment with four populations of common red fescue (Festuca rubra) encompassing the four corners of a precipitation by temperature gradient matrix. We found that plants originating from wetter and warmer conditions, in addition to producing more biomass, also produced a blend of volatile organic compounds more attractive for predatory nematodes of root insect herbivores. Moreover, across populations, variation in nematode attraction was mediated by balancing the emissions of attractive and repulsive volatile compounds. Our work builds towards better understanding how plant adaptation to climate interacts with adaptations to herbivores and their predators. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 94%

Plant adaptation to different climates shapes the strengths of chemically mediated tritrophic interactions

et al. 2019

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Similar studies on plant traits mediating ant attraction (e.g. rewards, volatile emission) have also found greater ant predation at lower elevations (Koptur 1985, Rasmann et al 2014c, Rodríguez-Castañeda et al 2016, and such dynamics might be particularly important in tropical systems where ants constitute a dominant carnivore group (Rodríguez-Castañeda et al 2016).…”

Section: Tritrophic Interactions Influence Plant-insect Herbivore Elementioning

confidence: 59%

“…For example, studies in both tropical and temperate mountains have found increasing elevation to be associated with lower insect herbivore attack by parasitoids (Preszler andBoecklen 1996, Maunsell et al 2015), predatory arthropods (Koptur 1985, Rodríguez-Castañeda et al 2011, Rasmann et al 2014c, Sam et al 2015, Roslin et al 2017, and insectivorous birds (Sam et al 2015) (Fig. 1A).…”

Section: Tritrophic Interactions Influence Plant-insect Herbivore Elementioning

confidence: 98%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Elevational gradients in plant defences and insect herbivory: recent advances in the field and prospects for future research

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Classic research on elevational gradients in plant-herbivore interactions holds that insect herbivore pressure is stronger under warmer, less seasonal climates characteristic of low elevations, and that this in turn selects for increased defence in low-(relative to high-) elevation plants. However, recent work has questioned this paradigm, arguing that it overly simplifies the ecological complexity in which plant-insect herbivore interactions are embedded along elevational gradients. Numerous biotic and abiotic factors vary with elevation, and their simultaneous influences are the focus of current work on elevational gradients in insect herbivory and plant defences. The present review 1) synthesizes current knowledge on elevational gradients in plant-insect herbivore interactions; 2) critically analyses research gaps and highlights recent advances that contribute to filling these gaps; and 3) outlines new research opportunities to uncover underlying mechanisms and build towards a unified theory on elevational gradients. We conclude that the next generation of studies should embrace community complexity -including multi-trophic dynamics and the multivariate nature of plant defence -and to do so by combining observational data, manipulative experiments and emerging analytical tools.

show abstract

“…, ; Rasmann et al . ; but see Moles et al . ,b), it remains unclear whether those genotypic‐ or species‐specific patterns can be generalized to entire communities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Community‐level plant palatability increases with elevation as insect herbivore abundance declines

et al. 2016

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Summary1. Plants protect themselves against herbivore attacks through a myriad of physical structures and toxic secondary metabolites. Together with abiotic factors, herbivores are expected to modulate plant defence strategies within plant assemblages. Because the abundance of insect herbivore decreases in colder environments, the palatability of plants in communities at higher elevation should shift in response to both abiotic and biotic factors. 2. We inventoried grasshopper communities to document changes in herbivore abundance along elevation gradients and quantified associated shifts in plant palatability. We measured plant palatability by measuring the growth of Spodoptera littoralis generalist caterpillars fed with the leaves of 172 plant species. We related plant palatability to leaf traits and elevation at the species and community levels. 3. In congruence with the decrease in grasshopper abundance with elevation, we found that the mean palatability level of plant communities increases with elevation. In addition, plant palatability was negatively associated with the community-weighted mean of leaf dry matter content. At the species level, plants with high carbon-to-nitrogen ratio were less palatable, while we found no effect of species mean elevation on plant palatability. 4. Synthesis. Our results suggest that plant communities at higher elevation are composed of species that are generally more palatable for insect herbivores. Shift in plant palatability with elevation may thus be the outcome of a relaxation of the in situ herbivore pressure and changes in abiotic conditions.

show abstract

Differential allocation and deployment of direct and indirect defences by Vicia sepium along elevation gradients

Cited by 59 publications

References 80 publications

Plant adaptation to different climates shapes the strengths of chemically mediated tritrophic interactions

Plant adaptation to different climates shapes the strengths of chemically mediated tritrophic interactions

Elevational gradients in plant defences and insect herbivory: recent advances in the field and prospects for future research

Community‐level plant palatability increases with elevation as insect herbivore abundance declines

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About