Misión Biológica de Galicia (MBG-CSIC), Apartado de correos 28, Pontevedra, Galicia, 36080, Spain.
Neuchâtel Platform of Analytical Chemistry, University of Neuchâtel, Rue Emile Argand 11, Neuchâtel, 2000, Switzerland.
Sci Rep. 2017 Jun 22;7(1):4047. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-04314-3.
Plant ontogenetic stage and features of surrounding plant neighbourhoods can strongly influence herbivory and defences on focal plants. However, the effects of both factors have been assessed independently in previous studies. Here we tested for the independent and interactive effects of neighbourhood type (low vs. high frequency of our focal plant species in heterospecific stands) and ontogeny on leaf herbivory, physical traits and chemical defences of the English oak Quercus robur. We further tested whether plant traits were associated with neighbourhood and ontogenetic effects on herbivory. We found that leaf herbivory decreased in stands with a low frequency of Q. robur, and that saplings received less herbivory than adult trees. Interestingly, we also found interactive effects of these factors where a difference in damage between saplings and adult trees was only observed in stands with a high frequency of Q. robur. We also found strong ontogenetic differences in leaf traits where saplings had more defended leaves than adult trees, and this difference in turn explained ontogenetic differences in herbivory. Plant trait variation did not explain the neighbourhood effect on herbivory. This study builds towards a better understanding of the concurrent effects of plant individual- and community-level characteristics influencing plant-herbivore interactions.
植物个体发育阶段和周围植物群落特征会强烈影响植物的取食和防御。然而，在之前的研究中，这两个因素的影响是独立评估的。在这里，我们测试了群落类型（在异质种群中我们的焦点植物种类的低频率与高频率）和个体发育对英国栎（Quercus robur）的叶取食、物理特性和化学防御的独立和交互影响。我们还测试了植物性状是否与取食和个体发育对取食的群落和个体发育效应有关。我们发现，在栎树低频的林分中，叶片取食量减少，幼树的取食量比成年树少。有趣的是，我们还发现了这些因素的相互作用，只有在栎树高频的林分中，幼树和成年树之间的损伤差异才会显现。我们还发现了叶片特性的强烈个体发育差异，幼树的叶片比成年树的叶片更有防御性，而这种差异反过来又解释了取食的个体发育差异。植物性状的变化并不能解释取食对群落的影响。本研究有助于更好地理解影响植物-食草动物相互作用的植物个体和群落水平特征的并发效应。
