The effects of drought on the Solidago altissima-Eurosta solidaginis-natural enemy complex: population dynamics, local extirpations, and measures of selection intensity on gall size

Oecologia ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 122 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. V. Sumerford ◽  
W. G. Abrahamson ◽  
A. E. Weis
Botany ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 94 (8) ◽  
pp. 635-642 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoryana Shibel ◽  
Stephen B. Heard

Understanding the combined effects of stressors on plants is important for understanding how they will tolerate herbivory and other damage under unfavorable conditions. When two stresses have synergistic effects, plants may experience particularly strong impacts. We examined individual and combined effects of drought stress and clipping (simulated herbivory) on two species of goldenrods (Solidago altissima L. and S. gigantea Ait.). Each stress reduced production of most plant structures, with drought stress having stronger impacts than clipping. The effects of the two stresses were additive for S. gigantea but synergistic for S. altissima, at least for aboveground biomass and inflorescence biomass. Both species, when under stress, reallocated resources toward asexual reproduction (rhizomes) and away from sexual reproduction (inflorescences). Our results suggest that even closely related plants may tolerate damage differently when under abiotic stresses, and that predicting the additive vs. synergistic action of combined stresses will be difficult.


1999 ◽  
Vol 89 (5) ◽  
pp. 411-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. de Kraker ◽  
A. van Huis ◽  
K.L. Heong ◽  
J.C. van Lenteren ◽  
R. Rabbinge

AbstractPopulations of rice leaffolders and their natural enemies were studied in eight crops of irrigated rice in Laguna Province, the Philippines. The rice leaffolder complex consisted of three species: Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenée), Marasmia patnalis Bradley and M. exigua Butler. Leaffolder population dynamics were characterized by an egg peak at maximum tillering and a broad larval peak around booting stage. Peak densities ranged from 0.2 to 2.0 larvae per hill. Most larvae originated from immigrant moths and there was no substantial second generation. The seasonal percentage egg parasitism by Trichogramma sp. ranged from 0 to 27%, and percentage larval parasitism from 14 to 56%. The braconid Macrocentrus philippinensis Ashmead was the most commonly reared larval parasitoid. Forty natural enemy taxa that may attack rice leaffolders were identified from suction and sweepnet samples: 24 predator taxa and 16 parasitoid taxa. The estimated survival rates from leaffolder egg to larval stages and between larval stages showed large variation between rice crops, but were not clearly correlated with observed levels of parasitism, natural enemy abundance, or natural enemy to leaffolder ratios. It is suggested that the generally low densities of rice leaffolders in Philippine transplanted rice are caused by their ovipositional preference for crops at the maximum tillering stage, allowing for only one generation, and by high immature mortality caused by the abundant and diverse complex of natural enemies.


2011 ◽  
Vol 278 (1721) ◽  
pp. 3108-3115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shunsuke Utsumi ◽  
Yoshino Ando ◽  
Timothy P. Craig ◽  
Takayuki Ohgushi

It is critical to incorporate the process of population dynamics into community genetics studies to identify the mechanisms of the linkage between host plant genetics and associated communities. We studied the effects of plant genotypic diversity of tall goldenrod Solidago altissima on the population dynamics of the aphid Uroleucon nigrotuberculatum . We found genotypic variation in plant resistance to the aphid in our experiments. To determine the impact of plant genotypic diversity on aphid population dynamics, we compared aphid densities under conditions of three treatments: single-genotype plots, mixed-genotype plots and mixed-genotype-with-cages plots. In the latter treatment plants were individually caged to prevent natural enemy attack and aphid movement among plants. The synergistic effects of genotypes on population size were demonstrated by the greater aphid population size in the mixed-genotype treatment than expected from additive effects alone. Two non-exclusive hypotheses are proposed to explain this pattern. First, there is a source–sink relationship among plant genotypes: aphids move from plant genotypes where their reproduction is high to genotypes where their reproduction is low. Second, natural enemy mortality is reduced in mixed plots in a matrix of diverse plant genotypes.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document