Density-Dependent Effects of Simultaneous Root and Floral Herbivory on Plant Fitness and Defense
Metadata
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MDPI
Materia
Brassicaceae Resistance Tolerance Compensation Density-dependence Plant defenses Belowground–aboveground Insect herbivory Semiarid Transgenerational effects
Date
2023-01-07Referencia bibliográfica
Aguirrebengoa, M.; Müller, C.; Hambäck, P.A.; González-Megías, A. Density-Dependent Effects of Simultaneous Root and Floral Herbivory on Plant Fitness and Defense. Plants 2023, 12, 283. [https://doi.org/10.3390/plants12020283]
Sponsorship
Spanish Government, grant number CGL2011-24840; Fellowship (BES-2012-059576)Abstract
Plants are attacked by multiple herbivores, and depend on a precise regulation of responses
to cope with a wide range of antagonists. Simultaneous herbivory can occur in different plant
compartments, which may pose a serious threat to plant growth and reproduction. In particular,
plants often face co-occurring root and floral herbivory, but few studies have focused on such
interactions. Here, we investigated in the field the combined density-dependent effects of rootchewing
cebrionid beetle larvae and flower-chewing pierid caterpillars on the fitness and defense
of a semiarid Brassicaceae herb. We found that the fitness impact of both herbivore groups was
independent and density-dependent. Increasing root herbivore density non-significantly reduced
plant fitness, while the relationship between increasing floral herbivore density and the reduction they
caused in both seed number and seedling emergence was non-linear. The plant defensive response
was non-additive with regard to the different densities of root and floral herbivores; high floral
herbivore density provoked compensatory investment in reproduction, and this tolerance response
was combined with aboveground chemical defense induction when also root herbivore density was
high. Plants may thus prioritize specific trait combinations in response to varying combined belowand
aboveground herbivore densities to minimize negative impacts on fitness.