DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Herbivore Pressure, Inga Chemistry, Toxicity and Defensive Ants: Comparison of two Tropical Communities

论文研究：草食动物压力、因加化学、毒性和防御蚂蚁：两个热带群落的比较

基本信息

批准号：
0407653
负责人：
Phyllis Coley
金额：
$ 0.82万
依托单位：
University of Utah
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2004
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2004-06-01 至 2006-11-30
项目状态：
已结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0407653&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
DISSERTATION RESEARCH Herbivore Pressure Inga

项目摘要

Plants and the animals that eat them make up 50% of the organisms on earth and the interactions among them have profound implications for the diversity and dynamics of natural forests. Plants have evolved an astounding array of chemical defenses to deter herbivores, and herbivores have countered with detoxification mechanisms. This reciprocal selection is believed to be responsible for the great species diversity of tropical forests. However, we know little of the mechanisms shaping the strength of selection for effective plant defenses. This study will examine differences in the defensive chemistry of a widespread Neotropical genus, Inga, by comparing sites in Panama and Ecuador. We predict that herbivore abundance, and hence the selection for plants to defend themselves will be greater in the more diverse and non-seasonal forest in Ecuador. At each site we will quantify herbivore pressure, diversity and abundance of Inga, investments in non-protein amino acids and flavonoids (the main classes of chemical defenses in Inga), toxicity of defenses to herbivores in laboratory trials, and rates of damage to leaves in nature. Despite the presumed importance of reciprocal selection by herbivores and plants on the evolution of chemical defenses, very few studies have addressed this in complex natural communities.

植物和食用它们的动物占地球上50％的生物以及它们之间的相互作用对天然林的多样性和动态具有深远的影响。植物已经进化出令人震惊的化学防御措施以阻止食草动物，而食草动物已经用排毒机制来应对。据信这种相互选择是造成热带森林的巨大物种多样性的原因。但是，我们几乎不知道塑造有效植物防御力的选择强度的机制。这项研究将通过比较巴拿马和厄瓜多尔的地点，研究广泛的新热带属的防御性化学差异。我们预测，在厄瓜多尔更加多样化和非季节性的森林中，草食动物的丰富性以及为植物捍卫自己的选择会更大。在每个地点，我们将量化对非蛋白质氨基酸和类黄酮的投资（INGA的主要类别）的草食动物压力，多样性和丰富性，对实验室试验中的草食动物的毒性以及对叶子损害的速度的毒性。尽管草食动物和植物对化学防御的发展具有相互选择的推测，但在复杂的自然社区中，很少有研究对此解决了这一点。