Characteristics of higher plant terpenoids that result in mediation of numerous kinds of ecological interactions are discussed as a framework for this Symposium on Chemical Ecology of Terpenoids. However, the role of terpenoid mixtures, either constitutive or induced, their intraspecific qualitative and quantitative compositional variation, and their dosage-dependent effects are emphasized in subsequent discussions. It is suggested that little previous attention to these characteristics may have contributed to terpenoids having been misrepresented in some chemical defense theories. Selected phytocentric examples of terpenoid interactions are presented: (1) defense against generalist and specialist insect and mammalian herbivores, (2) defense against insect-vectored fungi and potentially pathogenic endophytic fungi, (3) attraction of entomophages and pollinators, (4) allelopathic effects that inhibit seed germination and soil bacteria, and (5) interaction with reactive troposphere gases. The results are integrated by discussing how these terpenoids may be contributing factors in determining some properties of terrestrial plant communities and ecosystems. A terrestrial phytocentric approach is necessitated due to the magnitude and scope of terpenoid interactions. This presentation has a more broadly based ecological perspective than the several excellent recent reviews of the ecological chemistry of terpenoids.

FIG. 1. Location of the Crested Butte Area in Colo• rado and topographic map of the Crested Butte Quadrangle (after U.S.G.S. Map, 1894). Robbins (1910) and Cary (1911), surveying the vegetation of the entire state, pointed out that conditions were different on the eastern and western slopes. Schmoll (1935) described very generally the vegetation of the Chimney Rock Area, Archuleta County and Graham (1937) discussed the Colorado portion of the Uinta Basin. There are, however, neither detailed vegetation maps nor analyses of the composition of the communities of any area on the western slope. Therefore another objective of this study was to compare the vegetation of the Crested Butte Area with that of the eastern slope of the Colorado Rockies and adjacent areas in the Great Basin. Headquarters during the study were located at The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory at Gothic.

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Seedlings of the Caesalpinoids Hymenaea courbaril, H. parvifolia and Copaifera venezuelana, emergent trees of Amazonian rainforest canopies, and of the Araucarian conifers Agathis microstachya and A. robusta, important elements in tropical Australian rainforests, were grown at 6% (shade) and 100% full sunlight (sun) in glasshouses. All species produced more leaves in full sunlight than in shade and leaves of sun plants contained more nitrogen and less chlorophyll per unit leaf area, and had a higher specific leaf weight than leaves of shade plants. The photosynthetic response curves as a function of photon flux density for leaves of shade-grown seedlings showed lower compensation points, higher quantum yields and lower respiration rates per unit leaf area than those of sun-grown seedlings. However, except for A. robusta, photosynthetic acclimation between sun and shade was not observed; the light saturated rates of assimilation were not significantly different. Intercellular CO partial pressure was similar in leaves of sun and shade-grown plants, and assimilation was limited more by intrinsic mesophyll factors than by stomata. Comparison of assimilation as a function of intercellular CO partial pressure in sun- and shade-grown Agathis spp. showed a higher initial slope in leaves of sun plants, which was correlated with higher leaf nitrogen content. Assimilation was reduced at high transpiration rates and substantial photoinhibition was observed when seedlings were transferred from shade to sun. However, after transfer, newly formed leaves in A. robusta showed the same light responses as leaves of sun-grown seedlings. These observations on the limited potential for acclimation to high light in leaves of seedlings of rainforest trees are discussed in relation to regeneration following formation of gaps in the canopy.

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