Photosynthetic Pathways and Selective Herbivory: A Hypothesis

Caswell, Hal; Reed, Frank C.; Stephenson, Stephen N.; Werner, Patricia A.

doi:10.1086/282851

Cited by 184 publications

(147 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…Preferential grazing is one mechanism by which grazers can modify vegetation composition (Caswell et al, 1973), and hence carbon pools, fluxes and their isotopic composition. Yet, the present data indicated no preferential grazing of one photosynthetic type (C3 relative to C4, or vice versa).…”

Section: Isotopic Shift Between Vegetation and Woolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large regional-scale variation in C3/C4 distribution pattern of Inner Mongolia steppe is revealed by grazer wool carbon isotope composition

Auerswald¹,

Wittmer²,

Männel³

et al. 2009

Biogeosciences

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Abstract. This work explored the spatial variation of C3/C4 distribution in the Inner Mongolia, P. R. China, steppe by geostatistical analysis of carbon isotope data of vegetation and sheep wool. Standing community biomass (n=118) and sheep wool (n=146) were sampled in a ∼0.2 Mio km 2 area. Samples from ten consecutive years (1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007) were obtained. Community biomass samples represented the carbon isotopic composition of standing vegetation on about 1000 m 2 ("community-scale"), whereas the spatio-temporal scale of wool reflected the isotope composition of the entire area grazed by the herd during a 1-yr period (∼5-10 km 2 , "farm-scale"). Pair wise sampling of wool and vegetation revealed a 13 C-enrichment of 2.7±0.7‰ (95% confidence interval) in wool relative to vegetation, but this shift exhibited no apparent relationships with environmental parameters or stocking rate. The proportion of C4 plants in aboveground biomass (P C4 , %) was estimated with a two-member mixing model of 13 C discrimination by C3 and C4 vegetation ( 13 3 and 13 4 , respectively), in accounting for the effects of changing 13 C in atmospheric CO 2 on sample isotope composition, and of altitude and aridity on 13 3 . P C4 averaged 19%, but the variation was enormous: full-scale (0% to 100%) at community-scale, and 0% to 85% at farm-scale. The farm-scale variation of P C4 exhibited a clear regional pattern over a range of ∼250 km. Importantly P C4 was significantly higher above the 22 • C isotherm of the warmest month, which was obtained from annual high-resolution Correspondence to: K. Auerswald (auerswald@wzw.tum.de) maps and averaged over the different sampling years. This is consistent with predictions from C3/C4 crossover temperature of quantum yield or light use efficiency in C3 and C4 plants. Still, temperature gradients accounted for only 10% of the farm-scale variation of P C4 , indicating that additional factors control P C4 on this scale.

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Section: Isotopic Shift Between Vegetation and Woolmentioning

confidence: 99%

Large regional-scale variation in C3/C4 distribution pattern of Inner Mongolia steppe is revealed by grazer wool carbon isotope composition

Auerswald¹,

Wittmer²,

Männel³

et al. 2009

Biogeosciences

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“…However, plants also respond to herbivory. Caswell and colleagues [75] suggested that innovations such as CAM and C4 photosynthesis were favored as adaptive responses to insect herbivory because the photosynthetic machinery is situated well beneath the leaf surface. Nevertheless, the LPP of the Late Paleozoic evolved at a time before the widespread appearance of herbivores.…”

Section: Plantsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paleophysiology: From Fossils to the Future

Vermeij

2015

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

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Future environments may resemble conditions that have not existed for millions of years. To assess the adaptive options available to organisms evolving under such circumstances, it is instructive to probe paleophysiology, the ways in which ancient life coped with its physical and chemical surroundings. To do this, we need reliable proxies that are based on fundamental principles, quantitatively verified in living species, and observable in fossil remains. Insights have already come from vertebrates and plants, and others will likely emerge for marine animals if promising proxies are validated. Many questions remain about the circumstances for the evolution of environmental tolerances, metabolic rates, biomineralization, and physiological responses to interacting species, and about how living organisms will perform under exceptional conditions. Predictions, Proxies, and the Past

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“…Thus, on one hand C 4 plants are poorer food sources for herbivores than C 3 plants and hence should invest less resources in defence [20] and, on the other, according to the optimal defence theory, given a limited amount of resources, plants tend not to invest simultaneously in alternative functions (e.g. growth and defence) [21±23].…”

Section: Compensatory Growth Of Defoliated Seedlingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in growth and chemical defences upon defoliation in maize

1998

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AbstractÐThe eect of defoliation on growth and on levels and allocation patterns of hydroxamic acids (Hx) in maize seedlings was evaluated 6 days after treatment. No signi®cant dierences were found between defoliated and nondefoliated plants for the Hx concentration, relative Hx content and Hx-aglucone to Hxglucoside ratio in shoots, roots and root exudates, with the exception of Hx concentration in shoots, which decreased upon defoliation. However, growth of defoliated seedlings was considerably higher than that of nondefoliated ones. These results indicate that maize responds to defoliation by allocating its resources mainly to growth rather than to defence. Since previous work described the opposite strategy in rye, responses to defoliation in both species are discussed in relation to current theories of plant defence. #

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Photosynthetic Pathways and Selective Herbivory: A Hypothesis

Cited by 184 publications

References 41 publications

Large regional-scale variation in C3/C4 distribution pattern of Inner Mongolia steppe is revealed by grazer wool carbon isotope composition

Large regional-scale variation in C3/C4 distribution pattern of Inner Mongolia steppe is revealed by grazer wool carbon isotope composition

Paleophysiology: From Fossils to the Future

Changes in growth and chemical defences upon defoliation in maize

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