Structural and compositional dimensions of phytochemical diversity in the genus Piper reflect distinct ecological modes of action

Abstract

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Functional Traits 2.0: The power of the metabolome for ecology

“…One explanation for the findings of Fernandez-Conradi et al (2021) is that metabolite richness represents only one aspect of plant metabolic diversity that has consequences for plant-herbivore interactions. Indeed, Philbin et al (2021) perform metabolomics analyses on two Piper shrub species to show that herbivores interact with two distinct aspects of plant metabolic diversity, namely metabolic composition and metabolite structural complexity. This distinction explains how closely related species support diverse herbivore assemblages, and confirms that plants are able to draw on multiple aspects of metabolic diversity in response to herbivore pressure.…”

“…However, they also suggest that the metabolome is an important regulator of ecosystem processes. Indeed, Fernandez-Conradi et al (2021) and Philbin et al (2021) both show that the plant metabolome shapes herbivore community dynamics, and Endara et al (2021) suggest that the metabolome dictates plant community assembly processes. Similarly, Rawlings et al…”

“…At the same time,Rawlings et al (2021) use controlled experiments on wood-decay fungi in UK beech woodlands to show that generalist pioneer and stress-tolerant species display contrasting metabolic responses to constant versus fluctuating temperature regimes. Finally, the studies byFernandez-Conradi et al (2021) andPhilbin et al (2021) suggest that the metabolome responds not only directly to abiotic shifts (in both studies induced by elevation change), but also indirectly via interactions between the metabolome and herbivores, which alter a plant's capacity to respond to abiotic change itself.…”

Opposing Effects of Ceanothus velutinus Phytochemistry on Herbivore Communities at Multiple Scales

“…Advances have been made in developing experimentally meaningful composite variables for studying ecological interactions, including ordination, networking, and classification techniques [17,18,[23][24][25]. Another useful approach is the quantitation of chemical diversity, a measure of the richness (number of compounds) and evenness (compound abundance) of phytochemical mixtures drawn from community ecology [26][27][28]. The phytochemcial diversity of a mixture results from two intermingled dimensions of diversity: compositional diversity (the richness and evenness of individual compounds) and structural complexity (the size and topological complexity of constituent molecules in a mixture, as measured by 1 H NMR).…”

“…The phytochemcial diversity of a mixture results from two intermingled dimensions of diversity: compositional diversity (the richness and evenness of individual compounds) and structural complexity (the size and topological complexity of constituent molecules in a mixture, as measured by 1 H NMR). For some phytochemical systems, measuring the variation in structural complexity may be more relevant than compositional diversity [28]. Another important chemical diversity concept drawn from community ecology is beta diversity, or species turnover [5,29].…”