Large differences in the composition of herbivore communities and seed damage in diploid and autotetraploid plant species
Herbivory is one of the key interactions affecting plant fitness. Despite the large amount of data available on the effects of herbivores on various plant groups, we still know very little information about the interactions of herbivores with individuals having different ploidy levels. We studied th...
| Published in: | Biological Journal of the Linnean Society |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2015
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1111/bij.12482 http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0249156 |
| Summary: | Herbivory is one of the key interactions affecting plant fitness. Despite the large amount of data available on the effects of herbivores on various plant groups, we still know very little information about the interactions of herbivores with individuals having different ploidy levels. We studied the relationship of diploid and tetraploid Centaurea phrygia in natural and experimental garden conditions to the community of pre-dispersal seed predators developing in flower heads of the plants. Flowering phenology could explain part, but not all of the differences observed between cytotypes, indicating that other factors such as flower head morphology or chemistry could also play a role. The study indicated that the differences between the two cytotypes are important determinant of the plant-herbivore interactions in the system. Although we identified multiple factors that could explain the different associations, further research is needed to assess the relative importance of each of these factors. |
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