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Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant

Release from specialist insect herbivores may allow invasive plants to evolve traits associated with decreased resistance and increased competitive ability. Given that there may be genetic trade-off between resistance and tolerance, invasive plants could also become more tolerant to herbivores. Alth...

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Autores principales: Zhang, Zhijie, Pan, Xiaoyun, Zhang, Ziyan, He, Kate S., Li, Bo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4583994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26407176
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139234
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author Zhang, Zhijie
Pan, Xiaoyun
Zhang, Ziyan
He, Kate S.
Li, Bo
author_facet Zhang, Zhijie
Pan, Xiaoyun
Zhang, Ziyan
He, Kate S.
Li, Bo
author_sort Zhang, Zhijie
collection PubMed
description Release from specialist insect herbivores may allow invasive plants to evolve traits associated with decreased resistance and increased competitive ability. Given that there may be genetic trade-off between resistance and tolerance, invasive plants could also become more tolerant to herbivores. Although it is widely acknowledged that light availability affects tolerance to herbivores, little information is available for whether the effect of light availability on tolerance differ between the introduced and native populations. We conducted a common garden experiment in the introduced range of Alternanthera philoxeroides using ten invasive US and ten native Argentinean populations at two levels of light availability and in the presence or absence of a specialist stem-boring insect Agasicles hygrophila. Plant biomass (total and storage root biomass), two allocation traits (root/shoot ratio and branch intensity, branches biomass/main stem biomass) and two functional traits (specific stem length and specific leaf area), which are potentially associated with herbivore resistance and light capture, were measured. Overall, we found that A. philoxeroides from introduced ranges had comparable biomass and tolerance to specialist herbivores, lower branch intensity, lower specific stem length and specific leaf area. Moreover, introduced populations displayed higher shade tolerance of storage root biomass and lower plastic response to shading in specific stem length. Finally, light availability had no significant effect on evolution of tolerance to specialist herbivores of A. philoxeroides. Our results suggest that post-introduction evolution might have occurred in A. philoxeroides. While light availability did not influence the evolution of tolerance to specialist herbivores, increased shade tolerance and release from specialist insects might have contributed to the successful invasion of A. philoxeroides.
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spelling pubmed-45839942015-10-02 Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant Zhang, Zhijie Pan, Xiaoyun Zhang, Ziyan He, Kate S. Li, Bo PLoS One Research Article Release from specialist insect herbivores may allow invasive plants to evolve traits associated with decreased resistance and increased competitive ability. Given that there may be genetic trade-off between resistance and tolerance, invasive plants could also become more tolerant to herbivores. Although it is widely acknowledged that light availability affects tolerance to herbivores, little information is available for whether the effect of light availability on tolerance differ between the introduced and native populations. We conducted a common garden experiment in the introduced range of Alternanthera philoxeroides using ten invasive US and ten native Argentinean populations at two levels of light availability and in the presence or absence of a specialist stem-boring insect Agasicles hygrophila. Plant biomass (total and storage root biomass), two allocation traits (root/shoot ratio and branch intensity, branches biomass/main stem biomass) and two functional traits (specific stem length and specific leaf area), which are potentially associated with herbivore resistance and light capture, were measured. Overall, we found that A. philoxeroides from introduced ranges had comparable biomass and tolerance to specialist herbivores, lower branch intensity, lower specific stem length and specific leaf area. Moreover, introduced populations displayed higher shade tolerance of storage root biomass and lower plastic response to shading in specific stem length. Finally, light availability had no significant effect on evolution of tolerance to specialist herbivores of A. philoxeroides. Our results suggest that post-introduction evolution might have occurred in A. philoxeroides. While light availability did not influence the evolution of tolerance to specialist herbivores, increased shade tolerance and release from specialist insects might have contributed to the successful invasion of A. philoxeroides. Public Library of Science 2015-09-25 /pmc/articles/PMC4583994/ /pubmed/26407176 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139234 Text en © 2015 Zhang et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Zhang, Zhijie
Pan, Xiaoyun
Zhang, Ziyan
He, Kate S.
Li, Bo
Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant
title Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant
title_full Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant
title_fullStr Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant
title_full_unstemmed Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant
title_short Specialist Insect Herbivore and Light Availability Do Not Interact in the Evolution of an Invasive Plant
title_sort specialist insect herbivore and light availability do not interact in the evolution of an invasive plant
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4583994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26407176
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0139234
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