Misleading herbivory in a tropical tree

Fernandes, Geraldo Wilson; Santos, Jean Carlos; Gomes, Vanessa Matos

doi:10.1007/s11829-012-9212-5

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Another alternative explanation for the differences in galling richness among terra firme habitats is related to bottom-up (via host plant), and top-down (via natural enemies) factors that could result in different mortality rates (Fernandes 1998;Fernandes et al 2003;Julião et al 2014b). Unfortunately, we are not aware of any study dealing with the proximate causes of galling insect mortality in Amazonian forest types (but see Fernandes et al 2012). …”

Section: Acta Amazonicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Understory host plant and insect gall diversity changes across topographic habitats differing in nutrient and water stress in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

et al. 2017

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Topographic gradients in terra firme forests are associated with pronounced changes in soil texture, soil nutrients and distance to the water-table, thereby creating different hydric and nutritional conditions for plants and their associated herbivore community. The aim of this study was to investigate galling species and host plant richness and gall species composition across topographic habitats differing in nutrient and water stress in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. Nineteen 250 x 3 m plots were randomly sampled in the valley, slope, plateau-slope transition, and plateau habitats in terra firme forests. All individual dicotyledonous plants 1 to 3 meters high were examined for the presence of insect galls. Galling species and host plant richness differed significantly among the studied habitats and were higher in slope habitats (drier habitats), as expected. More humid areas (valleys) showed the lowest richness of galling species, and a lower number of understory host plants. PERMANOVA and PERMDISP results demonstrated that the gall species composition differed significantly in the valley, slope, plateau-slope transition, and plateau areas. However, these structural differences in species composition could be due to unequal dispersion of variability among forest habitats. Our data suggested that spatial heterogeneity, such as a mosaic of local water status and nutrient availability resulting from the topographic conditions, can affect host plants and their associated galling insects. KEYWORDS: habitat stress, soil nutrients, species diversity, terra firme forest, topographic gradient Riqueza de insetos galhadores associados a habitats de sub-bosque com diferentes topografias e níveis de estresse hídrico e nutricional em uma floresta da Amazônia Central, Brasil RESUMOAs variações topográficas encontradas nas florestas de terra firme são acompanhadas por fortes mudanças no conteúdo de argila e concentração de nutrientes do solo, criando, portanto, diferentes condições hídricas e nutricionais para plantas e as comunidades de herbívoros associadas. O objetivo do presente estudo foi avaliar a riqueza e composição de espécies de insetos galhadores e suas plantas hospedeiras ao longo de um gradiente topográfico com habitats que diferem quanto ao estresse hídrico e nutricional. Dezenove parcelas de 250 x 3 m foram estabelecidos aleatoriamente em habitats de vertente, platô, transição platô-vertente e baixio, claramente distintos em áreas de terra firme. Todas as dicotiledôneas com 1 a 3 metros de altura foram examinadas quanto à presença de galhas de insetos. As galhas encontradas foram coletadas e insetos galhadores foram classificados em morfoespécies. A riqueza de galhadores e de plantas hospedeiras diferiram significativamente entre os habitats estudados, e como esperado, foi maior no habitat de vertente. As áreas mais úmidas (baixios) apresentaram menor riqueza de plantas hospedeiras no sub-bosque e, conseqüentemente, um número menor de espécies de galhadores. Os resultados das análises de PERMANOVA e P...

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Section: Acta Amazonicamentioning

confidence: 99%

Understory host plant and insect gall diversity changes across topographic habitats differing in nutrient and water stress in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

et al. 2017

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“…For example, discolored leaf spots due to fungal pathogens can be easily mistaken for blister galls and we therefore excluded ambiguous cases. Even more difficult to distinguish in herbarium specimens, if not impossible, are holes in leaves caused by necrotic galls becoming detached (Fernandes et al, 2012). Some galls (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Plants and gall hosts of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica: Combining field sampling with herbarium records

Ley-López

González²,

Hanson

2019

RBT

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There has been an increasing number of inventories of gall-inducing arthropods in the Neotropics. Nonetheless, very few inventories have been carried out in areas where the flora is well documented, and records of galls from herbaria and sites outside the study area have seldom been utilized. In this study we provide a checklist of the native vascular plants of a 345 ha forest reserve in the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica and document which of these plants were found to harbor galls. The gall surveys were carried out between November 2013 and December 2016. We also cross-checked our plant list with the previous gall records from elsewhere in the country and searched for galls on herbarium specimens of dicots reported from the reserve. In total, we recorded 143 families and 1174 plant species, of which 401 were hosts of galls. Plant hosts of galls were found in the following non-mutually exclusive categories: 209 in our field sampling, 257 from previous records, and 158 in herbarium specimens. Of our field records of galls, 77 were new for the country, 77 were also found in the herbarium and 110 had been previously recorded in the country. Herbarium specimens and previous records are good indicators of potential gall hosts but around one quarter (40/158) of the gall records in the herbarium were ambiguous as to whether the tissue alteration was a gall or not. Plant family size was related to number of gall hosts, but most dicot families have similar proportions of gall host species. We concluded that more than a third of the native plants in the reserve are gall hosts, but this number increased to 44.93 % when only dicots were considered. Our results demonstrate the utility of providing complete plant inventories when conducting gall inventories, and of using herbarium specimens and previous galls studies to infer gall diversity in a specific area.

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“…Moreover, the positive relation linking leaf biomass and galling attack is coherent since leaves are essential resources for galling oviposition (Faria & Fernandes, 2001). However, almost no study reports the role of HR in the dynamics of galling insect populations and the mechanisms behind its action (but see Fernandes et al, 2012).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resource allocation in Copaifera langsdorffii (Fabaceae): how a supra-annual fruiting affects plant traits and herbivory?

Costa

Queiroz

Maia

et al. 2016

RBT

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Abstract:Plants have limited resources to invest in reproduction, vegetative growth and defense against herbivorous. Trade-off in resources allocation promotes changes in plant traits that may affect higher trophic levels. In this study, we evaluated the trade-off effect between years of high and low fruiting on the investment of resources for growth and defense, and their indirect effects on herbivory in Copaifera langsdorffii. Our questions were: (i) does the resource investment on reproduction causes a depletion in vegetative growth as predicted by the Carbon/Nutrient Balance hypothesis (CNBH), resulting in more availability of resources to be allocated for defense?, (ii) does the variation in resource allocation for growth and defense between years of high and low fruiting leads to indirect changes in herbivory? Thirty-five trees located in a Cerrado area were monitored during 2008 (year of high fruiting) and 2009 (year of no fruiting) to evaluate the differential investment in vegetative traits (biomass, growth and number of ramifications), plant defense (tannin concentration and plant hypersensitivity) and herbivory (galling attack and folivory). According to our first question, we observed that in the fruiting year, woody biomass negatively affected tannin concentration, indicating that fruit production restricted the resources that could be invested both in growth as in defense. In the same way, we observed an inter-annual variation in herbivorous attack, and found that plants with higher leaf biomass and tannin concentration, experienced higher galling attack and hypersensitive reaction, regardless years. These findings suggested that plants' resistance to herbivory is a good proxy of plant defense and an effective defense strategy for C. langsdorffii, besides the evidence of indirect responses of the third trophic level, as postulated by the second question. In summary, the supra-annual fruiting pattern promoted several changes on plant development, demonstrating the importance of evaluating different plant traits when characterizing the vegetative investment. As expected by theory, the trade-off in resource allocation favored changes in defense compounds production and patterns of herbivory. The understanding of this important element of insect-plant interactions will be fundamental to decipher coevolutionary life histories and interactions between plant species reproduction and herbivory. Besides that, only through long-term studies we will be able to build models and develop more accurate forecasts about the factors that trigger the bottom-up effect on herbivory performance, as well the top-down effect of herbivores on plant trait evolution. Rev. Biol. Trop. 64 (2): 507-520. Epub 2016 June 01.

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Misleading herbivory in a tropical tree

Cited by 10 publications

References 26 publications

Understory host plant and insect gall diversity changes across topographic habitats differing in nutrient and water stress in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

Understory host plant and insect gall diversity changes across topographic habitats differing in nutrient and water stress in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest

Plants and gall hosts of the Tirimbina Biological Reserve, Sarapiqui, Costa Rica: Combining field sampling with herbarium records

Resource allocation in Copaifera langsdorffii (Fabaceae): how a supra-annual fruiting affects plant traits and herbivory?

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