Direct and Indirect Effects of Foliar Herbivory on Floral Traits, Insect Pollination, and Male and Female Plant Fitness

9407362 Strauss/Conner 这项工作的主要目标是研究食草动物的损害如何同时影响雄性植物适应性（繁殖的种子数量）和雌性植物适应性（产生的种子数量）。 这些实验的结果将有助于多个领域的研究，并将为研究植物、食草动物和传粉者之间的关系提供一个新的角度。 一个争议是，一些植物似乎能够在植物适应性方面完全补偿草食性。 传统上是通过植物种子生产来估计适应性的，但这里采用的方法将检查植物的总体适应性。 初步数据表明，植物可能会将分配从雄性适应性（花粉、花蜜和花瓣生产）转移到雌性适应性（种子生产）。 由于这些变化，植物可能无法真正补偿叶子受损，因为受损植物产生的种子数量可能会减少，即使种子总数保持不变。 该提议还通过将授粉过程与食草过程联系起来，对当前的理论做出了贡献。 例如，如果受损植物的适应性较低，因为它们对传粉者的吸引力较低，那么自然选择可能会影响植物对受损的反应。 特别是，传粉媒介的需求，无论是通过奖励还是通过所需的线索，可能会影响植物如何分配资源以应对损害。 有效授粉媒介物种的种类及其需求可能决定受损植物是否产生较少的同等质量的花朵，或者它们是否产生与未受损植物一样多的花朵，但某些花朵质量较低（即较小，回报较少）。 这些都是令人兴奋的新领域，值得进一步研究。 这项工作的一个目标是确定植物中雄性和雌性适应性受草食性叶子影响的程度。 许多农作物因叶子受损而导致产量下降。 人们普遍认为，草本作物产量下降是植物可用资源减少（通过叶面积损失）的结果，而不是授粉减少的结果（尽管果园种植者多年来都知道良好授粉的重要性）。 这项工作的结果可以更清楚地阐明草食性降低产量的机制。 这项研究可能表明，对于给定的损害程度，通过增加授粉昆虫的访问量而不是减少食草动物损失的叶面积，可以更好地提高作物的数量或质量。 用授粉引诱剂（例如“蜂香”等产品）喷洒植物可能比喷洒杀虫剂更能提高产量，特别是因为杀虫剂可能对有益昆虫有毒。 这项研究可能会提出农药的替代品或补充品。

9407362 Strauss/Conner The main goal of this work is to examine how damage by herbivores affects both male plant fitness (number of seeds sired) and female fitness (number of seeds produced) simultaneously. Results from these experiments will contribute to several areas of cmntroversy, and will provide a new angle to examining the relationships between plants, herbivores and pollinators. One controversy is how some plants seem to be able to compensate completely for herbivory in terms of plant fitness. Fitness has classically been estimated through seed production in plants, but the approach taken here will examine total plant fitness. Preliminary data suggest that plants may shift allocation from aspects of male fitness (pollen, nectar and petal production) to female fitness (seed production). Because of these shifts, plants may not truly compensate for leaf damage, since the number of seeds sired by damaged plants may be reduced, even if total seed number remains the same. This proposal also contributes to current theory by linking the processes involved with pollination to those with herbivory. For example, if damaged plants have lower fitness because they are less attractive to pollinators, then natural selection may act on plant response to damage. In particular, the needs of pollinators, either through rewards or through required cues, may shape how plants allocate resources for damage. The kinds of effective pollinator species and their needs may determine whether damaged plants produce fewer flowers of equal quality, or whether they produce as many flowers as undamaged plants, but some of lower quality (i.e., smaller, with fewer rewards). These are exciting new areas that merit further investigation. One goal of this work is to determine the degree to which male versus female fitness in plants is affected by herbivory to leaves. Many crop plants suffer reduced yield as a result of leaf damage. It is generally assumed that reduced yie ld in herbaceous crops is a result of fewer resources available to plants (through loss of leaf area) rather than the result of diminished pollination (although orchard growers have known for years of the importance of good pollination). results from this work may elucidate more clearly the mechanisms through which herbivory reduces yield. This research may indicate that for a given level of damage, crop quantity or quality could be better improved by increasing pollinator visitation rather than by reducing leaf area lost to herbivores. Spraying plants with pollinator attractants (e.g., products like "Bee Scent") may improve yield more than by spraying with pesticides, especially since pesticides can be toxic to beneficial insects. This research may suggest an alternative or supplement to pesticides.