Bustos-Segura Carlos, Poelman Erik H, Reichelt Michael, Gershenzon Jonathan, Gols Rieta
Evolution, Ecology and Genetics Division, Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen University, PO Box 16, 6700 AA Wageningen, The Netherlands.
Ecol Lett. 2017 Jan;20(1):87-97. doi: 10.1111/ele.12713.
Intraspecific plant diversity can modify the properties of associated arthropod communities and plant fitness. However, it is not well understood which plant traits determine these ecological effects. We explored the effect of intraspecific chemical diversity among neighbouring plants on the associated invertebrate community and plant traits. In a common garden experiment, intraspecific diversity among neighbouring plants was manipulated using three plant populations of wild cabbage that differ in foliar glucosinolates. Plants were larger, harboured more herbivores, but were less damaged when plant diversity was increased. Glucosinolate concentration differentially correlated with generalist and specialist herbivore abundance. Glucosinolate composition correlated with plant damage, while in polycultures, variation in glucosinolate concentrations among neighbouring plants correlated positively with herbivore diversity and negatively with plant damage levels. The results suggest that intraspecific variation in secondary chemistry among neighbouring plants is important in determining the structure of the associated insect community and positively affects plant performance.
种内植物多样性可以改变相关节肢动物群落的特性以及植物的适应性。然而，目前尚不清楚哪些植物性状决定了这些生态效应。我们探究了相邻植物之间种内化学多样性对相关无脊椎动物群落和植物性状的影响。在一个共同花园实验中，利用三个叶芥子油苷含量不同的野生甘蓝植物种群来操控相邻植物之间的种内多样性。当植物多样性增加时，植物更大，食草动物更多，但受到的损害更小。芥子油苷浓度与广食性和专食性食草动物的丰度呈不同程度的相关性。芥子油苷组成与植物损伤相关，而在混栽中，相邻植物间芥子油苷浓度的变化与食草动物多样性呈正相关，与植物损伤水平呈负相关。结果表明，相邻植物之间次生化学物质的种内变异在决定相关昆虫群落结构方面很重要，并对植物表现产生积极影响。
