| Title: | Induction of the sticky plant defense syndrome in wild tobacco |
| Author(s): | Karban R; LoPresti E; Pepi A; Grof-Tisza P; |
| Address: | "Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA. Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, 612 Wilson Road, Room 262, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA. Graduate Group in Ecology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA. Department of Environmental and Biological Sciences, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1939-9170 (Electronic) 0012-9658 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Many plants engage in protective mutualisms, offering resources such as extrafloral nectar and shelters to predatory arthropods in exchange for protection against herbivores. Recent work indicates that sticky plants catch small insects and provide this carrion to predators who defend the plants against herbivores. In this study, we investigated whether wild tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, fits this sticky plant defense syndrome that has been described for other sticky plants. We developed a bioassay for stickiness involving the number of flies that adhered to flowers, the stickiest tissues. In surveys conducted over three field seasons at four sites, we found that the number of carrion that adhered to a plant was positively correlated with the number of predators that we observed foraging over its surfaces. The number of predators was positively correlated with the number of seed capsules that the plant produced, a measure of lifetime female reproductive success. Structural equation modeling indicated strong support for the causal path linking carrion numbers to predator numbers to capsule production. We investigated whether stickiness was an inducible trait and examined two potential cues. We found that experimental clipping of rosette leaves induced greater stickiness, although clipping of neighboring sagebrush leaves did not. Damage to leaf tissue is likely to be a more reliable predictor of risk than is damage to a neighboring plant. The sticky plant defense syndrome is a widespread protective mutualism; its strength and ecological relevance can adjust as risk of herbivory changes" |
| Keywords: | Animals *Herbivory Insecta Plant Leaves Plant Nectar *Tobacco herbivory induced defense plant fitness predators protective mutualism structural equation modeling; |
| Notes: | "MedlineKarban, Richard LoPresti, Eric Pepi, Adam Grof-Tisza, Patrick eng Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S. 2019/04/30 Ecology. 2019 Aug; 100(8):e02746. doi: 10.1002/ecy.2746. Epub 2019 May 20" |
