Induced defences in plants reduce herbivory by increasing cannibalism

Orrock, John L.; Connolly, B.; Kitchen, Anthony

doi:10.1038/s41559-017-0231-6

Cited by 24 publications

(33 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…A growing body of work provides convergent evidence that infants and young children are sensitive to ancestrally-recurrent naturalistic threats. For example, children as young as three years of age more quickly detect the presence of snakes and spiders compared to control stimuli (LoBue & DeLoache, 2008;LoBue, 2010a); an advantage that persists into adulthood (New & German, 2015;Öhman, Flykt, & Esteves, 2001). Similar results have been found with infants.…”

Section: Responses To Ancestrally-recurrent Threats In Infancy and Eamentioning

confidence: 99%

Every rose has its thorn: Infants' responses to pointed shapes in naturalistic contexts

Włodarczyk

Elsner

Schmitterer

et al. 2018

Evolution and Human Behavior

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Plants produce dangerous chemical and physical defenses that have shaped the physiology and behavior of the herbivorous predators that feed on them. Here we explore the impact that these plant defenses may have had on humans by testing infants' responses to plants with and without sharp-looking thorns. To do this, we presented 8-to 18-month-olds with plants and control stimuli and measured their initial reaching behavior and subsequent object exploration behavior. Half of the stimuli had sharp-looking thorns or pointed parts while the other half did not. We found that infants exhibited both an initial reluctance to touch and minimized subsequent physical contact with plants compared to other object types. Further, infants treated all plants as potentially dangerous, whether or not they possessed sharp-looking thorns. These results reveal novel dimensions of a behavioral avoidance strategy in infancy that would mitigate potential harm from plants.

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Section: Responses To Ancestrally-recurrent Threats In Infancy and Eamentioning

confidence: 99%

Every rose has its thorn: Infants' responses to pointed shapes in naturalistic contexts

Włodarczyk

Elsner

Schmitterer

et al. 2018

Evolution and Human Behavior

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“…The induction of plant defenses can increase cannibalism rates (Orrock et al. ), which, according to theory, may either increase (Sadeh and Rosenheim ) or decrease transmission (Van Allen et al. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Given that induction of plant defenses can change cannibalism rates (Orrock et al. ) and can affect disease transmission (Sadeh and Rosenheim , Van Allen et al. ), these two processes may well interact to influence transmission in systems where they both arise.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bottom‐up trait‐mediated indirect effects decrease pathogen transmission in a tritrophic system

Elderd

2018

Ecology

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A plant's induction of secondary defenses helps to decrease herbivore damage by changing resource quality. While these chemical or physical defenses may directly decrease herbivory, they can also have indirect consequences. In a tritrophic system consisting of a plant, an insect herbivore, and an insect pathogen, plant based trait‐mediated indirect effects (TMIEs) can alter host–pathogen interactions and, thereby, indirectly affect disease transmission. In a series of field experiments, individual soybean plants (Glycine max) were sprayed with either a jasmonic acid (JA) solution to trigger induction of plant defenses or a similar control compound. Fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) larvae along with varying amounts of a lethal baculovirus were placed on the plants to measure transmission. Induction of plant defenses decreased viral transmission due to increased population heterogeneity arising from changes in individual susceptibility. The change in susceptibility via TMIEs was driven by a decrease in feeding rates and an increase viral dose needed to infect larvae. While the induction against herbivore attack may decrease herbivory, it can also decrease the efficacy of the herbivore's pathogen potentially to the plant's detriment. While TMIEs have been well‐recognized for being driven by top‐down forces, bottom‐up interactions can dictate community dynamics and, here, epizootic severity.

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“…In the case of insect herbivores, one possibility lies in exploiting the tendency of these predators to fall back on cannibalism when the plants on which they are feeding are either consumed, lose nutritional value or otherwise become harder to eat. A recent study showed that, under controlled conditions, it is possible to induce cannibalism among caterpillar predators ( Spodoptera exigua ) by triggering the jasmonic acid pathway . This stimulates production of various chemicals, including phenolic molecules that reduce palatability, such as flavonoids, isoflavonoids, anthocyanins and lignins.…”

Section: Hormone‐controlled Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%