Details zur Publikation

Kategorie Textpublikation
Referenztyp Zeitschriften
DOI 10.1007/s00442-014-3036-1
Volltext Shareable Link
Titel (primär) Chemical defense lowers plant competitiveness
Autor Ballhorn, D.J.; Godschalx, A.L.; Smart, S.M.; Kautz, S.; Schädler, M.
Quelle Oecologia
Erscheinungsjahr 2014
Department BZF
Band/Volume 176
Heft 3
Seite von 811
Seite bis 824
Sprache englisch
Keywords Cyanogenesis; Herbivory; Growth-differentiation balance hypothesis; Lima bean; Tradeoff
UFZ Querschnittsthemen RU1;
Abstract Both plant competition and plant defense affect biodiversity and food web dynamics and are central themes in ecology research. The evolutionary pressures determining plant allocation toward defense or competition are not well understood. According to the growth–differentiation balance hypothesis (GDB), the relative importance of herbivory and competition have led to the evolution of plant allocation patterns, with herbivore pressure leading to increased differentiated tissues (defensive traits), and competition pressure leading to resource investment towards cellular division and elongation (growth-related traits). Here, we tested the GDB hypothesis by assessing the competitive response of lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus) plants with quantitatively different levels of cyanogenesis—a constitutive direct, nitrogen-based defense against herbivores. We used high (HC) and low cyanogenic (LC) genotypes in different competition treatments (intra-genotypic, inter-genotypic, interspecific), and in the presence or absence of insect herbivores (Mexican bean beetle, Epilachna varivestis) to quantify vegetative and generative plant parameters (above and belowground biomass as well as seed production). Highly defended HC-plants had significantly lower aboveground biomass and seed production than LC-plants when grown in the absence of herbivores implying significant intrinsic costs of plant cyanogenesis. However, the reduced performance of HC- compared to LC-plants was mitigated in the presence of herbivores. The two plant genotypes exhibited fundamentally different responses to various stresses (competition, herbivory). Our study supports the GDB hypothesis by demonstrating that competition and herbivory affect different plant genotypes differentially and contributes to understanding the causes of variation in defense within a single plant species.
dauerhafte UFZ-Verlinkung https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=15445
Ballhorn, D.J., Godschalx, A.L., Smart, S.M., Kautz, S., Schädler, M. (2014):
Chemical defense lowers plant competitiveness
Oecologia 176 (3), 811 - 824 10.1007/s00442-014-3036-1