Plant traits shape soil legacy effects on individual plant–insect interactions

Plant-mediated soil legacy effects can be important determinants of the performance of plants and their aboveground insect herbivores, but, soil legacy effects on plant–insect interactions have been tested for only a limited number of host plant species and soils. Here, we tested the performance of a polyphagous aboveground herbivore, caterpillars of the cabbage moth Mamestra brassicae, on twelve host plant species that were grown on a set of soils conditioned by each of these twelve species. We tested how growth rate (fast- or slow-growing) and functional type (grass or forb) of the plant species that conditioned the soil and of the responding host plant species growing in those soils affect the response of insect herbivores to conditioned soils. Our results show that plants and insect herbivores had lower biomass in soils that were conditioned by fast-growing forbs than in soils conditioned by slow-growing forbs. In soils conditioned by grasses, growth rate of the conditioning plant had the opposite effect, i.e. plants and herbivores had higher biomass in soils conditioned by fast-growing grasses, than in soils conditioned by slow-growing grasses. We show that the response of aboveground insects to soil legacy effects is strongly positively correlated with the response of the host plant species, indicating that plant vigour may explain these relationships. We provide evidence that soil communities can play an important role in shaping plant–insect interactions aboveground. Our results further emphasize the important and interactive role of the conditioning and the response plant in mediating soil–plant–insect interactions.     

Altitude acts as an environmental filter on phylogenetic composition,traits and diversity in bee communities

Knowledge about the phylogeny and ecology of communities along environmental gradients helps to disentangle the role of competition-driven processes and environmental filtering for community assembly. In this study, we evaluated patterns in species richness, phylogenetic structure and life-history traits of bee communities along altitudinal gradients in the Alps, Germany. We found a linear decline in species richness and abundance but increasing phylogenetic clustering in communities with increasing altitude. The proportion of social- and ground-nesting species, as well as mean body size and altitudinal range of bee communities, increased with increasing altitude, whereas the mean geographical distribution decreased. Our results suggest that community assembly at high altitudes is dominated by environmental filtering effects, whereas the relative importance of competition increases at low altitudes. We conclude that inherent phylogenetic and ecological species attributes at high altitudes pose a threat for less competitive alpine specialists with ongoing climate change.     

Nutrient limitation in detritus-based microcosms in Sarracenia purpurea

Most prior work on the role of top-down and bottom-up effects in aquatic communities has ignored the significant detrital component that occurs in natural systems. We investigated the effects of specific nutrients (carbon, phosphorus, and nitrogen), as well as a top predator (the mosquito Wyeomyia smithii), on the structure of the detritivore community found in the water-filled leaves of the pitcher plant Sarracenia purpurea. The concentrations of three nutrients and the presence of the predators were manipulated in a factorial design, while the response of the remaining community was quantified. Bacterial growth was found to be strongly carbon-limited and somewhat less limited by phosphorus and there was an interaction between the effects of the two nutrients. Neither carbon or phosphorus addition affected protozoan or rotifer abundance, and nitrogen had only a minor effect. The presence of the predator, however, significantly reduced the abundance of the four numerically dominant bacteriovores. There were no interactions between top-down and bottom-up effects; the strong direct reciprocal effects between adjacent trophic levels seem to be greatly attenuated as they are propagated farther up or down the food chain.     

晋北芦芽山亚高山草地生态系统植物功能性状随海拔变化的经济谱分析

海拔通过影响气温、降水以及土壤养分含量进而影响植物生长,探究植物功能性状随海拔的变化关系,能够明确植物随海拔变化的适应策略,有助于揭示不同海拔下的植物功能性状经济谱效应,对亚高山草地生态系统管理和生态修复提供重要依据。以芦芽山国家级自然保护区为研究区,选取1600m、1800m、2000m、2200m和2600m五个海拔梯度,测定植物功能性状和土壤养分含量等指标,研究亚高山草地植物功能性状随海拔变化的经济谱效应。结果表明:(1)随着海拔升高,比叶面积(SLA)、叶片氮含量(LNC)、叶片磷含量(LPC)、比根长(SRL)、比根表面积(SRA)、根氮含量(RNC)和根磷含量(RPC)显著升高(P<0.05),叶干物质含量(LDMC)显著降低(P<0.05),而叶碳含量(LCC)与根碳含量(RCC)无明显变化趋势(P>0.05)。(2)不同海拔之间植物功能性状差异显著,Rao二次熵指数随海拔升高呈现先增大后减小再增大的变化趋势。(3)RDA冗余分析表明,海拔是影响功能性状的关键因素(解释率40.4%,P=0.002)。研究分析了不同海拔梯度下的植物功能性状经济谱,表明芦芽山亚高山草地植物通过资源保守型向资源获取型适应策略的转变,来应对海拔升高带来的环境变化。     

天山森林植物功能性状与碳库沿海拔梯度的变化

植物功能性状是能够将植物个体特征、群落结构和生态系统功能结合起来的良好载体,但关于在环境梯度上如何通过植物功能性状的连续变化来构建群落、以及植物功能性状如何反映生态系统功能等问题尚有较多疑问。为探讨天山森林植物功能性状与其碳库在海拔梯度上的联系,分析了14个群落尺度上的植物功能性状指标和各组分碳密度沿海拔的变化规律及二者之间的关系。结果表明:(1)受海拔梯度上环境因子的影响,群落尺度上植物功能性状和碳密度的垂直分布并不一致:随海拔升高,叶片碳氮比(C/N)逐渐上升,叶片碳含量(C_(leaf))、比根长(SRL)和植株高度(H)升高后降低,叶绿素含量(Chl)、细根磷含量(P_(root))、叶片氮磷比(N/P)逐渐下降,细根碳含量(C_(root))先升高后趋于平缓,细根氮含量(N_(root))先下降后又有所回升,叶片氮含量(N_(leaf))、木质素含量(LLC)、叶干物质含量(LDMC)、细根干物质含量(RDMC)在各海拔段间无显著差异;(2)比根长(SRL)和植株高度(H)通过影响资源的获取和利用,C与P通过对养分的限制和在器官中的分配,从而影响植被光合作用,与天山森林碳密度显著相关;高木质素含量(LLC)导致植物残体分解速率变慢而与土壤碳密度(SCD)和群落总碳密度(TCD)呈显著负相关关系。随海拔升高,植被碳密度(VCD)先升后降,土壤碳密度(SCD)和总碳密度(TCD)逐渐升高。植物功能性状与环境因子和森林的结构功能相互作用、相互影响,三者之间的关系还需在大尺度上进一步验证。     

Secondary Metabolites as Plant Traits: Current Assessment and Future Perspectives

Referee: Dr. Peter B. Kaufman, Dept. of Biology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1048 Traditionally, secondary metabolites in plants have been investigated by phytochemists. Originally classified as waste products, these compounds more recently have been investigated extensively by ecologists and pharmacologists, and many complex biological functions have been discovered. Secondary metabolites occur nearly in all living organisms, within bacteria as well as in mammals, and are especially prominent in those organisms lacking an immune system. Functions of plant secondary metabolites comprise attractants, such as color pigments and scents, repellents such as antifeedants against insects and mammals, or toxins that affect growth and development of animal and microbial predators. Conversely, insects can employ plant-synthesized compounds to their own advantage, such as signals for feeding and oviposition and location of prey. Microbes also use secondary metabolites as carbon sources, and bacteria utilize them for quorum-sensing, an aspect recently discovered. Despite the diversity of recognized functions, the biochemical processes underlying these interactions are few. Primarily, they relate to the ability of these small molecules to bind to receptor regions of various proteins such as keys into locks. This review attempts a summary of current knowledge of secondary plant metabolism with focus on history of discovery, development of analytical techniques, theories of origin and function, signal pathways, biosynthesis, and assessment of biological activities. Outlined is current utilization by, and future perspectives in, different disciplines, such as chemosystematics, chemical ecology, and agricultural biotechnology. Examples illustrate the strong potential of research in secondary metabolism, particularly in comparison to more established disciplines such as developmental biology and physiology.     

The suitability of damaged willow leaves as food for the leaf beetle, Phgiodera versicolora

Abstract. 1. The effect of previous damage on the suitability of willow ( Mix bubylonicu and S.ulbu 'Tristis') leaves as food for the imported willow leaf beetle, Plugiodera versicoloru Laich. (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), was evaluated by feeding adults and larvae leaves from damaged and undamaged branchlets.
2. Females had lower fecundity when fed leaves from artificially damaged branchlets of S.ufba 'Tristis'. A similar result was obtained when beetles ate leaves from naturally damaged branchlets of S.babylonica .
3. Feeding preference tests suggest that the reductions in leaf suitability were not due to adults avoiding damaged leaves as a food source.
4. PZugiodera versicolora larvae required longer to develop and attained a lower adult weight when fed leaves from damaged branchlets.
5. Changes in leaf suitability brought about by herbivore feeding may affect the seasonal abundance of P.versicoloru on its willow hosts.