Article
Ecology
Cristian Salgado-Luarte, Marcia Gonzalez-Teuber, Karina Madriaza, Ernesto Gianoli
Summary: There is a trade-off between plant resistance and tolerance. The study found a negative relationship between mechanical defenses and tolerance, while there was no significant association between chemical defenses and tolerance. Plant adaptation to light environments may affect the trade-off between resistance and tolerance.
Review
Microbiology
Wilnelia Recart, Rover Bernhard, Isabella Ng, Katherine Garcia, Arietta E. Fleming-Davies
Summary: Despite the extensive research on insects diseases and plant reproduction, there is little investigation on the connection between the two. Insect-infecting pathogens can disrupt the pollination process by affecting the population and traits of pollinators. They can also infect insect herbivores and change herbivory, potentially altering resource allocation to plant reproduction. This meta-analysis of 39 articles found a negative effect of pathogen exposure on insect traits, varying by host function, suggesting the need for future research on the implications for plant reproduction and pollinator effectiveness.
Article
Environmental Sciences
Laura Duque, Erik H. Poelman, Ingolf Steffan-Dewenter
Summary: Exposure to high levels of ozone accelerates flowering in plants and attracts more pollinators, resulting in retained reproductive fitness despite negative effects on plant growth.
ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION
(2021)
Article
Ecology
Jamila S. Roth, Todd Z. Osborne, Laura K. Reynolds
Summary: The impacts of multiple stressors on ecological systems are difficult to predict but crucial to understand. This study explores the effects of warming temperatures and grazing pressure on seagrass ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico. The results show that warming temperatures negatively affect seagrass tolerance and resistance traits, reducing biomass, productivity, shoot density, and the number of leaves per plant. Grazing by turtle, parrotfish, and urchin has significant impacts on plant traits, potentially reducing resilience and increasing palatability. These stressors interact additively for most response variables, but non-additively for a few, suggesting that water temperature may play a role in driving these interactions. Overall, increased temperatures and grazing pressure are likely to have negative consequences for seagrass cover, associated species, and ecosystem services.
Article
Biodiversity Conservation
Jun Shi, Mark Stahl, Ric C. H. de Vos, Katja Tielboerger, Koen J. F. Verhoeven, Mirka Macel
Summary: This study analyzes the chemical defense traits of invasive plants and finds that invasive populations show improved growth and resistance to generalist herbivores, but lower resistance to specialist herbivores. Metabolomic profiling reveals significant changes in chemistry between native and invasive populations, including differences in alkaloids and flavonoids. Experimental admixture increases chemical diversity and plant growth in native populations, indicating its potential to fuel rapid evolution.
BIOLOGICAL INVASIONS
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Qiu-Yue Fu, Cheng-Ling Yu, Ran Dong, Juan Shi, Fang-Li Luo, Jun-Qin Gao, Hong-Li Li, Bi-Cheng Dong, Fei-Hai Yu
Summary: This study examined the effects of herbivory on Alternanthera philoxeroides and found that herbivory in one generation can promote the growth of subsequent generations sprouted from secondary-root fragments, but have a neutral or negative effect on plants sprouted from primary-root fragments. The growth of third-generation plants was significantly reduced by herbivory in the same generation. DNA methylation level was found to increase in first-generation plants when damaged by herbivores. However, herbivory-induced changes in DNA methylation were not observed in second- and third-generation plants.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Michael Garvey, Kale Costanza, Scott Grimmell, Bret D. Elderd
Summary: Knowing the duration insect pests exist in the environment is crucial for growers to determine management strategies and treatments. However, experiments on the long-term performance of insect pests on different plant cultivars are rare. In this study, the performance of fall armyworm on soybean cultivars induced/non-induced with jasmonic acid (JA) was investigated. The results showed that both plant cultivar and JA induction were significant factors affecting mortality. Larval development to pupation was extended when feeding on induced plants, but pupal mass was not affected.
APPLIED SCIENCES-BASEL
(2022)
Article
Ecology
John L. Orrock, Peter W. Guiden, Vincent S. Pan, Richard Karban
Summary: This study found that induced plant defenses can increase cannibalism among insect herbivores, resulting in reduced herbivory. Cannibalism enhances the growth rate of cannibals, allowing them to overcome the costs of plant defenses. Additionally, viral inoculation significantly reduces the survival rate of herbivores. Both defense-induced cannibalism and viral pathogens have significant benefits for plants in reducing herbivory.
Article
Plant Sciences
Laura J. A. van Dijk, Johan Ehrlen, Ayco J. M. Tack
Summary: Pathogens negatively affect plant growth and fitness, with varying effects among different species. The impact on plant fitness is more direct than mediated by insects, but some pathogens can influence herbivore preference and performance.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Christian Ristok, Alexander Weinhold, Marcel Ciobanu, Yvonne Poeschl, Christiane Roscher, Fredd Vergara, Nico Eisenhauer, Nicole M. van Dam
Summary: This study found a correlation between plant diversity and herbivory, with plant metabolomes playing a key role. The results suggest that soil community composition reduces herbivory rates by changing plant metabolomes in response to increasing plant diversity.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Forestry
Francesco Martini, I-Fang Sun, Yu-Yun Chen
Summary: Conversion from natural forest to timber plantation can lead to changes in community structure, diversity, and plant-plant and plant-animal interactions. This study found that the total herbivory did not change among forest types, but there were variations in herbivory among different tree species. Leaf damage caused by different feeding guilds was influenced by leaf traits and forest structure. The findings support the resource concentration hypothesis and highlight the importance of leaf traits in mediating the impact of insect feeding guilds on leaf herbivory.
FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT
(2022)
Article
Plant Sciences
Devyn A. Orr, An Bui, Maggie Klope, Ian M. McCullough, Michelle Lee, Carina Motta, Isabella Mayorga, Kelli Konicek, Hillary S. Young
Summary: This study investigates the impact of wild herbivores and cattle on plant communities and finds that they have different effects on vegetation structure and diversity. Furthermore, the study also reveals that these effects vary across different climatic contexts.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biology
Xinzhu Wei, Christopher R. Robles, Ali Pazokitoroudi, Andrea Ganna, Alexander Gusev, Arun Durvasula, Steven Gazal, Po-Ru Loh, David Reich, Sriram Sankararaman
Summary: Through analyzing the genetic data of 300,000 individuals and 96 distinct phenotypes, it is found that the genetic variants introduced from interbreeding with Neanderthals have a modest contribution to complex human traits. However, these introgressed variants tend to be depleted compared to modern human variants, possibly due to purifying selection. The significant associations between introgressed Neanderthal variants and phenotypes are likely driven by nearby modern human variants rather than the introgressed variants themselves.
Article
Entomology
Andreisa Fabri Lima, Natalie M. Aguirre, Geraldo Andrade Carvalho, John M. Grunseich, Anjel M. Helms, Maria Fernanda G. V. Penaflor
Summary: Neonicotinoid seed treatment is a common practice worldwide to control insect pests in crops, but it can compromise plant defenses. This study evaluated the effect of thiamethoxam-neonicotinoid seed treatment on maize resistance against fall armyworm. The results showed that the treatment reduced the resistance of one maize genotype (B73), but had no effect on another genotype (MC 4050).
JOURNAL OF PEST SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Plant Sciences
Xoaquin Moreira, Luis Abdala-Roberts, Rieta Gols, Beatriz Lago-Nunez, Sergio Rasmann, Gregory Roeder, Pilar Soengas, Carla Vazquez-Gonzalez, Maria Elena Cartea
Summary: This study provides strong evidence for volatile-mediated indirect interactions between plant enemies and pollinators, ultimately impacting plant fitness, with specificity in both the enemy and the compounds involved.
JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Ecology
Deidra J. Jacobsen
Summary: Plant-herbivore coevolution has led to the development of various plant defenses and counter adaptations in herbivores. Consuming plant secondary compounds can result in growth and developmental costs for herbivores but may also have beneficial effects. Herbivores may face minor developmental costs from consuming defensive compounds compared to strong negative survival pressures from abundant parasitoid enemies.
ECOLOGY AND EVOLUTION
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Deidra J. Jacobsen, Robert A. Raguso
Summary: The study reveals that plants use volatiles to attract pollinators while deterring herbivores, showing that vegetative and floral traits may interact to affect insect behavior. Pollinator behavior is likely influenced by leaf traits, and plant induction status plays a role in adult moth foraging and oviposition preferences.
FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Deidra J. Jacobsen
Summary: Plant defenses are influenced by various factors, including herbivory, lifespan, and mating system. Predictions are based on resource allocation trade-offs and there are different types of resistance. Studying resistance strategies in different species helps understand the impact of plant traits and evolutionary history on resistance.
AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY
(2022)