Community-level relaxation of plant defenses against herbivores at high elevation

Callis‐Duehl, Kristine; Vittoz, Pascal; Defossez, Emmanuel; Rasmann, Sergio

doi:10.1007/s11258-016-0688-4

Cited by 44 publications

(46 citation statements)

References 87 publications

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“…For example, Descombes et al (2017) reported an overall increase in plant palatability with elevation based on plant communityweighted trait means, but at the individual species level, there was no effect of elevation on plant palatability in most cases. Similarly, Callis-Duehl et al (2017) found an overall decline of physical and chemical defensive traits with elevation for most plants at the community level, but elevational patterns varied in strength and direction when analyses were conducted individually for each species. Studies such as these remain scarce, but are especially valuable for understanding how intra-specific varation contributes to communitylevel patterns, and vice versa: how whole communities can be decomposed into species-level clines and its underlying mechanisms.…”

Section: Addressing Both Within-and Among-species Variation In Plant mentioning

confidence: 83%

“…Plants can also simultaneously deploy an arsenal of defensive traits that act synergistically against multiple insect herbivore species, resulting in positive (rather than negative) co-variation between defences (Agrawal and Fishbein 2006), including plant chemical and physical defences, indirect defences and tolerance. These so-called 'defence syndromes' can vary both among and within plant species depending on the ecological context (Callis-Duehl et al 2017). To our knowledge, only two studies to date have looked at the influence of elevation on plant defensive syndromes (Dostálek et al 2016, Pellissier et al 2016.…”

Section: Box 1 Definition Of Plant Defensive Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Elevational gradients in plant defences and insect herbivory: recent advances in the field and prospects for future research

et al. 2018

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Classic research on elevational gradients in plant-herbivore interactions holds that insect herbivore pressure is stronger under warmer, less seasonal climates characteristic of low elevations, and that this in turn selects for increased defence in low-(relative to high-) elevation plants. However, recent work has questioned this paradigm, arguing that it overly simplifies the ecological complexity in which plant-insect herbivore interactions are embedded along elevational gradients. Numerous biotic and abiotic factors vary with elevation, and their simultaneous influences are the focus of current work on elevational gradients in insect herbivory and plant defences. The present review 1) synthesizes current knowledge on elevational gradients in plant-insect herbivore interactions; 2) critically analyses research gaps and highlights recent advances that contribute to filling these gaps; and 3) outlines new research opportunities to uncover underlying mechanisms and build towards a unified theory on elevational gradients. We conclude that the next generation of studies should embrace community complexity -including multi-trophic dynamics and the multivariate nature of plant defence -and to do so by combining observational data, manipulative experiments and emerging analytical tools.

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Section: Addressing Both Within-and Among-species Variation In Plant mentioning

confidence: 83%

Section: Box 1 Definition Of Plant Defensive Strategiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevational gradients in plant defences and insect herbivory: recent advances in the field and prospects for future research

et al. 2018

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“…Lower palatability of these plant families could be explained by their distinct chemical profiles, with the presence of toxic or repellent chemical compounds (e.g. bitterness in Gentianaceae, which are rich in both alkaloids and tannins; Callis‐Duehl et al, ) or other family‐specific leaf characteristics which were not captured by our selection of physical and chemical traits (e.g. leaf texture, presence of volatile compounds) but indirectly detected with the ordination axis.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…So far, studies investigating the relationship between plant chemical traits and herbivore performance have typically measured one or a few groups of chemical compounds, such as flavonoids, phenolics, cardenolides or glucosinolates (e.g. Callis‐Duehl et al, ; Defossez et al, ; Pellissier et al, ; Rasmann & Agrawal, ). Because plants have evolved a myriad of chemical secondary metabolites to counteract herbivory (Mithöfer & Boland, ; Rhoades, ), the overall chemical arsenal in plants is unlikely to be restricted to one single compound class.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chemical defences, such as alkaloids, terpenoids and phenolic compounds, act as toxins or digestibility reducers (Mithöfer & Boland, ). The current paradigm indicates that chemical and physical defences act together, in the form of syndromes, to counteract a wide variety of herbivores (Agrawal & Fishbein, ; Callis‐Duehl, Vittoz, Defossez, & Rasmann, ; Kursar et al, ). In addition to the selective effect of herbivores on plant defence traits (Agrawal, ; Kessler & Baldwin, ), abiotic factors, especially temperature, can change the expression of plant phenotypes (Gutbrodt, Mody, & Dorn, ; Pellissier, Roger, Bilat, & Rasmann, ; Totland, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Plant physical and chemical traits associated with herbivory in situ and under a warming treatment

et al. 2019

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Plants protect themselves against herbivore attacks with physical traits and toxic secondary metabolites. Levels of plant defences and herbivore performance might shift under climate warming, particularly in alpine habitats, where herbivore pressure is currently low. Plant responses to warming should be driven by species‐specific shifts in physical and chemical defence traits. We investigated the association between plant leaf physical and chemical traits and herbivory under current and warmer climates in three grasslands along a subalpine to alpine gradient. Specifically, we measured the rate of in situ natural herbivory, and performed bioassays to measure overall plant species‐level resistance using the extreme generalist non‐native caterpillar Spodoptera littoralis. We simulated warmer conditions by using open‐top chambers and assessed the effect of warming on leaf physical and chemical traits, and how trait changes affect caterpillar performance. Natural herbivory and caterpillar performance were associated with plant physical traits, including specific leaf area, and with ordination axes representing dimensions of the plant chemical profile. We found that the warming treatment independently decreased the number of distinct chemical compounds per species, and marginally increased specific leaf area. Changes in leaf functional traits were not systematically associated with changes in caterpillar performance. Synthesis. Plant physical traits and chemical profiles are both related to natural herbivory and plant resistance against Spodoptera littoralis. While leaf physical and chemical traits of high elevation plants were modified by the warming treatment, these changes did not result in predictable effects on plant resistance against herbivores.

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Variable effects on growth and defense traits for plant ecotypic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity along elevation gradients

Bakhtiari

Formenti

Caggìa

et al. 2019

Ecology and Evolution

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Along ecological gradients, phenotypic differentiation can arise through natural selection on trait diversity and magnitude, and environment‐driven plastic changes. The magnitude of ecotypic differentiation versus phenotypic plasticity can vary depending on the traits under study. Using reciprocal transplant‐common gardens along steep elevation gradients, we evaluated patterns of ecotypic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity of several growth and defense‐related traits for two coexisting but unrelated plant species, Cardamine pratensis and Plantago major . For both species, we observed ecotypic differentiation accompanied by plasticity in growth‐related traits. Plants grew faster and produced more biomass when placed at low elevation. In contrast, we observed fixed ecotypic differentiation for defense and resistance traits. Generally, low‐elevation ecotypes produced higher chemical defenses regardless of the growing elevation. Yet, some plasticity was observed for specific compounds, such as indole glucosinolates. The results of this study may suggest that ecotypic differentiation in defense traits is maintained by costs of chemical defense production, while plasticity in growth traits is regulated by temperature‐driven growth response maximization.

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Community-level relaxation of plant defenses against herbivores at high elevation

Cited by 44 publications

References 87 publications

Elevational gradients in plant defences and insect herbivory: recent advances in the field and prospects for future research

Elevational gradients in plant defences and insect herbivory: recent advances in the field and prospects for future research

Plant physical and chemical traits associated with herbivory in situ and under a warming treatment

Variable effects on growth and defense traits for plant ecotypic differentiation and phenotypic plasticity along elevation gradients

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