DISSERTATION RESEARCH: The Importance of Plant Ontogeny for Tri-trophic Interactions

论文研究：植物个体发育对三营养相互作用的重要性

• 批准号: 0909717
• 负责人: M. Deane Bowers
• 金额: $ 0.83万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-06-01 至 2012-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0909717&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Importance; Plant; Ontogeny

Herbivore damage is one of the greatest sources of mortality in plant populations. As a consequence, plants have evolved a wide array of defenses to protect themselves from being eaten. However, the production of plant defenses is costly. Plants are constrained in how they can allocate their resources throughout plant development (i.e. ontogeny) to various essential functions, including defense. While recent studies have demonstrated that plant ontogeny can affect the expression of numerous traits relevant to herbivores, such as nutritional content and physical and chemical defenses, less attention has been given to investigating potential indirect effects of this variation on consumer species. The aim of this project is to assess how variation in plant traits, such as nutritional value, size, and chemical and physical defenses, throughout the ontogeny of a host-plant (Plantago lanceolata), can modify its interactions with a specialist herbivore (Buckeye butterfly, Junonia coenia) and predators of that herbivore. The investigators will conduct three greenhouse and field experiments examining where butterflies choose to lay their eggs, caterpillar performance and caterpillar predation risk at four host plant developmental stages. This research will document potential ecological and evolutionary consequences of temporal variation in plant traits on plant-herbivore-predator dynamics. This knowledge is important for both agricultural systems and conservation biology. Being able to predict herbivore host selection, performance, and predation risk on different host plant developmental stages will help to improve pest management strategies for crops, as well as to develop better eradication plans for invasive plant species. Several undergraduates will be trained in ecological research methods in this study, and the researchers will conduct public outreach to K-12 students and teachers through established relationships with University of Colorado educational programs.

食草动物损害是植物种群中死亡率最大的损害之一。 结果，植物已经进化了各种防御能力，以保护自己免于被食用。 但是，植物防御量的生产成本很高。植物在整个植物发育（即个体发育）中如何分配资源（即国防）的各种基本功能受到限制。尽管最近的研究表明，植物的本体发育可能会影响与食草动物相关的众多特征的表达，例如营养含量以及物理和化学防御措施，但对研究这种变异对消费物种的潜在间接影响的关注较少。该项目的目的是评估植物特征的变化（例如营养价值，大小，化学和物理防御）在整个宿主植物（Plantago lanceolata）的整个组织中如何可以改变其与专业的草食动物（Buckeye Buckeye蝴蝶，Junonia coenia）和该草药的捕食者的相互作用。研究人员将进行三个温室和现场实验，研究蝴蝶选择在四个宿主植物发育阶段下产卵，毛毛虫性能和毛毛虫捕食风险的地方。这项研究将记录植物特征对植物 - 动物促进剂动力学的时间变化的潜在生态和进化后果。 这种知识对于农业系统和保护生物学都很重要。 能够预测不同寄主植物发育阶段的草食动物宿主的选择，性能和捕食风险将有助于改善农作物的害虫管理策略，并制定更好的根除侵入性植物物种的计划。本研究中将对几名本科生进行生态研究方法的培训，研究人员将通过与科罗拉多大学的教育计划建立关系向K-12学生和老师进行公众宣传。