Correlations between physical and chemical defences in plants: tradeoffs, syndromes, or just many different ways to skin a herbivorous cat?

• Published in: New Phytologist
• Main Authors: Moles, Angela, Peco, Begoña, Wallis, Ian R., Foley, William J., Poore, Alistair G.B., Seabloom, Eric William, Vesk, Peter A., Bisigato, Alejandro Jorge, Cella Pizarro, Lucrecia, Clark, Connie J., Cohen, Philippe S., Cornwell, William K., Edwards, Will, Ejrnæs, Rasmus, Gonzales‐Ojeda, Therany, Graae, Bente J., Hay, Gregory, Lumbwe, Fainess C., Magaña‐Rodríguez, Benjamín, Moore, Ben D., Peri, Pablo Luis, Poulsen, John R., Stegen, James C., Veldtman, Ruan, Zeipel, Hugo von, Andrew, Nigel R., Boulter, Sarah L., Borer, Elizabeth T., Cornelissen, Johannes H.C., Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo, DeGabriel, Jane L., Jurado, Enrique, Kyhn, Line A., Low, Bill, Mulder, Christa P.H., Reardon Smith, Kathryn, Rodrıguez Velazquez, Jorge, De Fortier, An, Zheng, Zheng, Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo, Enquist, Brian J., Facelli, Jose M., Knight, Tiffany, Majer, Jonathan D., Martinez Ramos, Miguel, McQuillan, Peter, Hui, Francis K.C.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Wiley 2013
• Subjects: Plantas; Herbívoros; Respuesta a la Selección; Nectarios; Taninos; Plants; Herbivores; Selection Responses; Nectaries; Tannins; Compensaciones; Arctic; Austral; Patagonia; Fairbanks; Pacific; Queensland; Argentina; St. Louis; Noruega; Griffith; Tucumán; Pablo; Suecia; Ramos; Gustavo; Cornwell; Ruan; Institute of Arctic Biology; National Environmental Research Institute; Alaska
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12123/5537; https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/nph.12116; https://doi.org/10.1111/nph.12116

Most plant species have a range of traits that deter herbivores. However, understanding of how different defences are related to one another is surprisingly weak. Many authors argue that defence traits trade off against one another, while others argue that they form coordinated defence syndromes. We collected a dataset of unprecedented taxonomic and geographic scope (261 species spanning 80 families, from 75 sites across the globe) to investigate relationships among four chemical and six physical defences. Five of the 45 pairwise correlations between defence traits were significant and three of these were tradeoffs. The relationship between species’ overall chemical and physical defence levels was marginally nonsignificant (P = 0.08), and remained nonsignificant after accounting for phylogeny, growth form and abundance. Neither categorical principal component analysis (PCA) nor hierarchical cluster analysis supported the idea that species displayed defence syndromes. Our results do not support arguments for tradeoffs or for coordinated defence syndromes. Rather, plants display a range of combinations of defence traits. We suggest this lack of consistent defence syndromes may be adaptive, resulting from selective pressure to deploy a different combination of defences to coexisting species. EEA Santa Cruz Fil: Moles, Angela. The University of New South Wales. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. Evolution & Ecology Research Centre; Australia Fil: Peco, Begoña. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Facultad de Ciencias. Departamento Interuniversitario de Ecología. Terrestrial Ecology Group; España Fil: Wallis, Ian R. Australian National University. Research School of Biology; Australia Fil: Foley, William J. Australian National University. Research School of Biology; Australia Fil: Poore, Alistair G.B. The University of New South Wales. School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences. Evolution & Ecology Research Centre; Australia Fil: Seabloom, Eric W. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Estados Unidos Fil: Vesk, Peter A. University of Melbourne. School of Botany; Australia Fil: Bisigato, Alejandro Jorge. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Cella Pizarro, Lucrecia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentina Fil: Clark, Connie J. Woods Hole Research Center; Estados Unidos Fil: Cohen, Philippe S. Stanford University. Jasper Ridge Biological Preserve; Estados Unidos Fil: Cornwell, William K. Vrije Universiteit. Department of Systems Ecology. Institute of Ecological Science; Holanda Fil: Edwards, Will. James Cook University. School of Marine and Tropical Biology and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science; Australia Fil: Ejrnæs, Rasmus. University of Aarhus. National Environmental Research Institute; Dinamarca Fil: Gonzales‐Ojeda, Therany. Universidad Nacional de San Antonio Abad del Cusco. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales y Medio Ambiente; Perú Fil: Graae, Bente J. Umeå University. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences. Climate Impacts Research Centre; Suecia. Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Department of Biology; Noruega Fil: Hay, Gregory. University of Adelaide. School of Earth and Environmental Sciences; Australia Fil: Lumbwe, Fainess C. University of Zambia. Department of Biological Sciences; Zambia Fil: Magaña‐Rodríguez, Benjamín. Victoria University of Wellington. School of Biological Sciences; Nueva Zelanda Fil: Moore, Ben D. James Cook University. School of Marine and Tropical Biology and Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science; Australia. University of Western Sydney. Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment; Australia Fil: Peri, Pablo Luis. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria (INTA). Estación Experimental Agropecuaria Santa Cruz; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de la Patagonia Austral; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina Fil: Poulsen, John R. Woods Hole Research Center; Estados Unidos Fil: Stegen, James C. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Biological Sciences Division; Estados Unidos Fil: Veldtman, Ruan. Stellenbosch University. Department of Botany and Zoology. Centre for Invasion Biology; Sudáfrica. South African National Biodiversity Institute. Kirstenbosch Research Centre; Sudáfrica Fil: Zeipel, Hugo von. Mid Sweden University. Department of Natural Sciences; Suecia Fil: Andrew, Nigel R. University of New England. Centre for Behavioural and Physiological Ecology, Zoology; Australia Fil: Boulter, Sarah L. Griffith University. Griffith School of Environment. Environmental Futures Centre; Australia Fil: Borer, Elizabeth T. University of Minnesota. Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior; Estados Unidos Fil: Cornelissen, Johannes H. C. Vrije Unviversiteit. Department of Systems Ecology. Institute of Ecological Science; Holanda Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universidad Bariloche. Instituto de Investigaciones en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina Fil: DeGabriel, Jane L. James Cook University. School of Marine and Tropical Biology; Australia Fil: Jurado, Enrique. Universidad de Nuevo León. Facultad de Ciencias Forestales; México Fil: Kyhn, Line A. University of Aarhus. National Environmental Research Institute; Dinamarca Fil: Low, Bill. Low Ecological Services; Australia Fil: Mulder, Christa P.H. University of Alaska Fairbanks. Institute of Arctic Biology and Department of Biology and Wildlife; Estados Unidos Fil: Reardon Smith, Kathryn. University of Southern Queensland. Australian Centre for Sustainable Catchments; Australia Fil: Rodrıguez Velazquez, Jorge. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; México Fil: De Fortier, An. University of Zululand. Department of Zoology; Sudáfrica Fil: Zheng, Zheng. Chinese Academy of Sciences. Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden; República de China Fil: Blendinger, Pedro Gerardo. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Tucumán. Instituto de Ecología Regional.; Argentina Fil: Enquist, Brian J. University of Arizona. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology; Estados Unidos Fil: Facelli, Jose M. Norwegian University of Science and Technology. Department of Biology; Noruega Fil: Knight, Tiffany. Washington University in St. Louis. Department of Biology; Estados Unidos Fil: Majer, Jonathan D. Curtin University. Curtin Institute for Biodiversity and Climate; Australia Fil: Martinez Ramos, Miguel. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas; México Fil: McQuillan, Peter. University of Tasmania. School of Geography & Environmental Studies; Australia Fil: Hui, Francis K.C. The University of New South Wales. School of Mathematics and Statistics and Evolution & Ecology Research Centre; Australia