How do extreme drought and plant community composition affect host plant metabolites and herbivore performance?
How do extreme drought and plant community composition affect host plant metabolites and herbivore performance?
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DOI：
10.1007/s11829-011-9157-0
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发表时间：
2012-03-01
影响因子：
1.6
通讯作者：
Jentsch, Anke
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Walter, Julia;Hein, Roman;Jentsch, Anke
水的可利用性和植物群落组成改变植物养分的可利用性和植物防御化合物的积累，因此对草食动物的性能产生影响。干旱胁迫和植物群落组成对叶片化学物质和草食动物表现的综合影响在很大程度上尚未探索。因此，我们研究的目的是找出极端干旱和植物群落组成对植物-草食动物相互作用的影响。幼虫的多面手蝴蝶Spodoptera littoralis饲养的草Holcus lanatus，这是生长在实验社区，不同的物种和功能组丰富度的叶子。这些社区要么遭受极端干旱，要么仍然处于环境气候条件下。干旱降低了牧草的相对含水量、可溶性蛋白质含量、全氮和总酚含量，增加了碳水化合物含量。因此，幼虫取食干旱暴露的植物显示出更长的幼虫期，蛹重增加和更高的成人羽化率。植物群落组成的变化主要是引起草地防御物质的变化，但对蛋白质和碳水化合物含量的影响较小。在没有豆类的物种最丰富的群落中喂养的幼虫死亡率最高。我们的研究结果表明，预计将增加严重干旱的频率，以及改变植物群落组成的气候变化，可能会影响节肢动物-植物的相互作用，通过改变叶片化学物质。
Water availability and plant community composition alter plant nutrient availability and the accumulation of plant defence compounds therefore having an impact on herbivore performance. Combined effects of drought stress and plant community composition on leaf chemicals and herbivore performance are largely unexplored. The objective of our study was, therefore, to find out the impact of extreme drought and of plant community composition on plant-herbivore interactions. Larvae of the generalist butterfly Spodoptera littoralis were reared on leaves of the grass Holcus lanatus which was grown in experimental communities, differing in species- and functional group richness. These communities were either subjected to extreme drought or remained under ambient climatic conditions. Drought decreased relative water content, soluble protein content, nitrogen and total phenol content and increased the content of carbohydrates in the grass. As a consequence, the larvae feeding on drought-exposed plants revealed a longer larval stage, increased pupal weight and higher adult eclosion rates. Plant community composition mainly caused changes to the defensive compounds of the grass, but also marginally affected protein and carbohydrate content. Larvae feeding on species-richest communities without legumes showed the highest mortality. Our findings imply that climate change that is projected to increase the frequency of severe droughts, as well as alter plant community compositions, is likely to affect arthropod-plant interactions through an alteration of leaf chemicals.