Howard Mia M, Kalske Aino, Kessler André
Plant Biology Section, School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA.
Oecologia. 2018 Jun;187(2):547-559. doi: 10.1007/s00442-018-4088-4. Epub 2018 Feb 26.
The quality and outcome of organismal interactions are not only a function of genotypic composition of the interacting species, but also the surrounding environment. Both the strength and direction of natural selection on interacting populations vary with the community context, which itself is changed by these interactions. Here, we test for the role of interacting evolutionary and ecological processes in plant-herbivore interactions during early community succession in the tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima. We use surveys in a large-scale field experiment with repeated plots representing 6 years of early oldfield succession and reciprocal transplant common garden experiments to test for the relative importance of rapid evolution (genetic) and environmental changes (soil quality) in affecting mean plant resistance and growth phenotypes during community succession. While plant growth varied strongly with soil quality over the first 5 years of agricultural abandonment, plant secondary metabolism, and herbivore resistance varied minimally with the soil environment. Instead, mean composition and abundance of plant secondary compound bouquets differed between S. altissima plants from populations collected in communities in the first ("early") and sixth ("intermediate") years of oldfield succession, which was reflected in the feeding preference of the specialist herbivore, Trirhabda virgata, for early succession lines. Moreover, this preference was most pronounced on poorer quality, early succession soils. Overall, our data demonstrate that plant quality varies for insect herbivores during the course of early succession and this change is a combination of altered genotypic composition of the population and phenotypic plasticity in different soil environments.
生物间相互作用的质量和结果不仅取决于相互作用物种的基因型组成，还取决于周围环境。对相互作用种群的自然选择的强度和方向都会随群落背景而变化，而群落背景本身又会因这些相互作用而改变。在此，我们测试了相互作用的进化和生态过程在高杆一枝黄花（Solidago altissima）早期群落演替过程中植物与食草动物相互作用中的作用。我们在一个大规模田间实验中进行调查，该实验有重复的样地，代表了6年的早期弃耕地演替，同时进行了 reciprocal transplant common garden实验，以测试快速进化（遗传）和环境变化（土壤质量）在群落演替过程中影响植物平均抗性和生长表型的相对重要性。在弃耕后的前5年里，植物生长随土壤质量变化很大，而植物次生代谢和对食草动物的抗性随土壤环境变化很小。相反，从弃耕地演替第一年（“早期”）和第六年（“中期”）群落中采集的高杆一枝黄花植株，其植物次生化合物组合的平均组成和丰度存在差异，这反映在专食性食草动物Trirhabda virgata对早期演替品系的取食偏好上。此外，这种偏好在质量较差的早期演替土壤上最为明显。总体而言，我们的数据表明，在早期演替过程中，植物对昆虫食草动物的质量存在差异，这种变化是种群基因型组成改变和不同土壤环境下表型可塑性的综合结果。
