Effects of Insect Herbivores on the Nitrogen Economy of Plants

Tao, Leiling; Hunter, Mark D.

doi:10.1002/9780470959404.ch12

Cited by 9 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 159 publications

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“…Herein, we suggest that constraints of stoichiometric mismatch and plant defense compounds may also play a role. As patterns of plant resource allocation and defense are in turn influenced by herbivore feeding (Karban & Baldwin, ; Tao & Hunter, ), future study should consider feedbacks between plant and herbivore performance under N deposition and variable P availability.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does anthropogenic nitrogen deposition induce phosphorus limitation in herbivorous insects?

Tao

Hunter

2012

Global Change Biology

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Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition has shifted many ecosystems from nitrogen (N) limitation to phosphorus (P) limitation. Although well documented in plants, no study to date has explored whether N deposition exacerbates P limitation at higher trophic levels, or focused on the effects of induced plant P limitation on trophic interactions. Insect herbivores exhibit strict N : P homeostasis, and should therefore be very sensitive to variations in plant N : P stoichiometry and prone to experiencing deposition-induced P limitation. In the current study, we investigated the effects of N deposition and P availability on a plant-herbivorous insect system. Using common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and two of its specialist herbivores, the monarch caterpillar (Danaus plexippus) and milkweed aphid (Aphis asclepiadis) as our study system, we found that experimental N deposition caused P limitation in milkweed plants, but not in either insect species. However, the mechanisms for the lack of P limitation were different for each insect species. The body tissues of A. asclepiadis always exhibited higher N : P ratios than that of the host plant, suggesting that the N demand of this species exceeds P demand, even under high N deposition levels. For D. plexippus, P addition increased the production of latex, which is an important defense negatively affecting D. plexippus growth rate. As a result, we illustrate that P limitation of herbivores is not an inevitable consequence of anthropogenic N deposition in terrestrial systems. Rather, species-specific demands for nutrients and the defensive responses of plants combine to determine the responses of herbivores to P availability under N deposition.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does anthropogenic nitrogen deposition induce phosphorus limitation in herbivorous insects?

Tao

Hunter

2012

Global Change Biology

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“…Furthermore, both tolerance and resistance are affected by the allocation of resources below-ground. Greater resource storage in roots and rhizomes can provide plants with greater potential to compensate for biomass loss (Strauss & Agrawal 1999;Tiffin 2000;Orians, Thorn & G omez 2011;Tao & Hunter 2011). Roots are also sites of secondary metabolite synthesis (Hartmann et al 1989;Kaplan et al 2008;Erb et al 2009); therefore, changes in resource allocation to roots may influence chemical defences.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect plant tolerance and chemical defences to herbivory through different mechanisms

et al. 2016

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1. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are ubiquitous plant symbionts that affect plant nutrient status, patterns of resource allocation and rates of plant growth. In addition, AMF influence the expression of plant defence, which may affect subsequent interactions between plants and higher trophic levels. Tolerance to herbivory and chemical defence represent two distinct defence strategies of plants, and there is accumulating evidence that AMF can influence each strategy separately. However, investigations on the simultaneous effects of AMF on tolerance and chemical defence mechanisms are lacking. 2. Using six milkweed (Asclepias) species and three levels of AMF inoculum, we show that plant tolerance to herbivory increases with foliar P concentrations, while both foliar cardenolide concentration and latex exudation (major chemical defences in milkweeds) increase with foliar N concentrations, but decrease with plant growth rate. Additionally, foliar cardenolide concentration increases with foliar P concentration, and latex exudation increases with root biomass. Because AMF have significant effects on all of these traits (foliar N and P concentrations, root biomass and growth rate), AMF can change plant tolerance and chemical defence simultaneously, albeit through different mechanisms. 3. Synthesis. Overall, plant tolerance and chemical defence to herbivores are affected by AMF through changes in basic plant physiology such as nutrient status, allocation patterns and growth rate, and our study suggests that it may be possible to predict effects of AMF on plant defences through these simple traits.

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“…Herbivores affect plants directly by reducing biomass, carbon fixation, and survival, or by increasing fertilization through liquid and solid waste. They also have indirect impacts through interactions with other species that include plants, symbiotic microbes, and other herbivores, and through changes they create in habitat structure and soil nutrient dynamics (Schmitz , Tao and Hunter , Strickland et al. ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Browsing impacts on the stable isotope composition of chaparral plants

Koch

Fox

2017

Ecosphere

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Abstract. We assessed the effects of herbivory on competition, water stress, and potentially biological nitrogen fixation on three species of endemic shrubs using variations in the stable isotope ratios ( C values may be due to increased water stress with substantial shrub growth. More broadly, herbivore suppression of N fixation may impact ecosystem processes such as productivity and N cycling, as well as an ecosystem's ability to respond to increased CO 2 .

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Effects of Insect Herbivores on the Nitrogen Economy of Plants

Cited by 9 publications

References 159 publications

Does anthropogenic nitrogen deposition induce phosphorus limitation in herbivorous insects?

Does anthropogenic nitrogen deposition induce phosphorus limitation in herbivorous insects?

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affect plant tolerance and chemical defences to herbivory through different mechanisms

Browsing impacts on the stable isotope composition of chaparral plants

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