Palatability, decomposition and insect herbivory: patterns in a successional old‐field plant community

Schädler, Martin; Jung, Gertraud; Auge, Harald; Brandl, Roland

doi:10.1034/j.1600-0706.2003.12659.x

Cited by 127 publications

(112 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…That the trees of secondary forest had higher SLA and foliar nitrogen than primary-forest trees is typical for this high-light environment where low investment in structural defense, high growth rates, and relatively high rates of photosynthesis per unit of mass are commonly observed (Schadler et al 2003, Poorter et al 2004, Agrawal and Fishbein 2006.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting tropical insect herbivore abundance from host plant traits and phylogeny

Whitfeld

Novotný

Miller

et al. 2012

Ecology

121

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Abstract. Phylogenetic ecology has identified patterns of diversity in communities that may find explanation in trophic interactions, and yet there have been few attempts to directly relate such patterns among trophic levels. Density-dependent processes involving pests and pathogens, for example, have been invoked to account for plant community phylogenetic patterns, but relatively little is known about how plant relatedness might affect community structure at other trophic levels. We examined the degree to which the abundance of herbivores in a rain forest community is explained by the phylogeny and functional traits of host plants. We destructively sampled all stems !5 cm diameter in two 1-ha plots of New Guinea primary and secondary lowland forest to test predicted relationships between herbivore abundance and plant resources. We analyzed per-tree caterpillar and leaf miner abundance, total leaf biomass (kg), percentage of immature foliage, specific leaf area (cm 2 /g), leaf nitrogen content (percentage of dry mass), and presence of exudates in the context of a plant community phylogeny estimated from DNA barcodes.Apart from nitrogen content and exudates, neither plant resources nor herbivore abundance showed evidence of phylogenetic signal in our community sample. The plant traits we measured could account for only 30% and 16% of variation in caterpillar and leaf miner abundance, respectively, among individual trees. Leaf biomass was a stronger predictor of herbivore abundance than either resource quality (leaf nitrogen content) or palatability (percentage of immature foliage, specific leaf area). The primary importance of resource quantity was also observed at the plant species level in analyses of species means and phylogenetic generalized least-squares regression. Plant relatedness did not account for much variation in herbivore abundance, but significant effects of exudates and leaf nitrogen content on caterpillar abundance illustrate how conserved traits at one trophic level may influence community-wide patterns at another.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting tropical insect herbivore abundance from host plant traits and phylogeny

Whitfeld

Novotný

Miller

et al. 2012

Ecology

121

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“…Generally, leaves with high SLAs have reduced structural defenses and are more susceptible to damage caused by herbivores (Lei & Lechowicz, 1990;Schädler et al, 2003;Hanley et al, 2007;Karolewski et al, 2013). P. leucographella adults oviposit on the upper leaf surface and the larvae enter the epidermis through the cuticle and outer cell wall of the epidermis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Maladaptive host choice by an alien leaf miner Phyllonorycter leucographella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) has the potential to limit its invasiveness

Walczak¹,

Bogdziewicz²,

Żytkowiak³

et al. 2018

Eur. J. Entomol.

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Abstract. Alien phytophagous insects are often introduced along with their host plants, creating opportunities for troublesome invasions. Yet, not all of them are able to successfully colonize novel host plants. In this study, we investigated host selection by the alien leaf miner Phyllonorycter leucographella (Zeller, 1850) on both its original host and novel host plants in the insect's alien range. We predicted that this insect's percentage infestation of the original host would be positively related to its specifi c leaf area (SLA), because high-SLA leaves are nutritious and have thin cuticles, traits related to high offspring developmental success. We further hypothesized that this host selection process would apply in the selection of novel host plants. Our results show that this leaf miner selects leaves of its original host plant, Pyracantha coccinea, according to their SLA values. The SLA value was also positively related to the probability of P. leucographella infesting and successfully developing on novel host plants. The selection of high-SLA plants by the moth leads to a high developmental success on novel host plants in the fi rst (summer) generation, but it is likely to be maladaptive in the second (overwintering) generation, because in temperate Europe, high SLA values are associated with deciduous plants that shed their leaves in autumn. It is likely that the apparent maladaptive selection of novel host plants by P. leucographella reduces the invasiveness of this pest by preventing its establishment on native plants.

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“…From each zone, 500 leaves were collected randomly (1500 leaves per tree) around the circumference of each tree and gall abundance (new and hatched galls) was recorded. Water, carbon to nitrogen ratio (Schadler et al, 2003), phosphorus and potassium (Goncalves-Alvim et al, 2004) concentrations in the leaves are known to influence leaf palatability for herbivores. Therefore, these traits were assessed for the foliage of each tree zone of each cultivar.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

CORRELATION OF BIOCHEMICAL LEAF TRAITS AND GALL FORMATION IN SIX CULTIVARS OF MANGO, Mangifera indica L.

Khan¹,

Akram²,

Khan³

et al. 2017

PAKJAS

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Mango (Mangifera indica L.) leaves are susceptible to severe attack by insect gall formers. The study's objective was to assess how different vertical strata of the tree canopy and variation in leaf traits affect gall formation. For this, individual and temporal variation in leaf traits of different mango cultivars (Anwar ratole, Chaunsa, Dusehri, Fajri, Sindri and Siroli) and their ultimate effect on gall formation were studied in 2009-10. In addition, the approximate quantity of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and water content in the leaves was also analysed. Significant variation was found among all mango cultivars for leaf traits and gall formation (p<0.05). Within host individuals, a maximum level of gall formation (200-240 galls, in case of Fajri cultivar) was found on the foliage of the upper tree canopy followed by the lower and inner canopy with the consistent pattern over 2 years. Moreover, gall formation showed significant correlation to carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio, phosphorus and potassium level in the leaves of all the studied cultivars except Siroli.

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Palatability, decomposition and insect herbivory: patterns in a successional old‐field plant community

Cited by 127 publications

References 68 publications

Predicting tropical insect herbivore abundance from host plant traits and phylogeny

Predicting tropical insect herbivore abundance from host plant traits and phylogeny

Maladaptive host choice by an alien leaf miner Phyllonorycter leucographella (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae) has the potential to limit its invasiveness

CORRELATION OF BIOCHEMICAL LEAF TRAITS AND GALL FORMATION IN SIX CULTIVARS OF MANGO, Mangifera indica L.

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