Collaborative Research: Plant Secondary Metabolites as Mediators of Trophic Interactions in a Tropical Forest Community.

合作研究：植物次生代谢物作为热带森林群落营养相互作用的中介。

• 批准号: 0344250
• 负责人: Lee Dyer
• 金额: $ 14.72万
• 依托单位: Tulane University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-03-01 至 2007-02-28
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0344250&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; Plant; Secondary; Metabolites

Studying how soil quality, light availability, plant chemistry, and insect abundance interact is an important component of understanding how ecosystems function. The rain forest shrub, Piper cenocladum, and its associated insects have been useful for such studies. Piper cenocladum provides food and shelter for ants that protect it from insect herbivores, and it produces several toxins that increase with moderate increases in soil quality and light availability. Previous research with this system demonstrated that the ants controlled specialized insect herbivores, while the plant toxins deterred herbivory by insects with broader diets. Are these results unique to this unusual ant-plant mutualism or are these common phenomena that can happen in many rain forest understory plants? As one step towards exploring the generality of previous results, the proposed study will examine the effects of insects, soil, and light on a closely related plant species that has not evolved a mutualism with ants. The proposed collaboration between ecologists and chemists will allow for a thorough study examining the roles of insect predators versus plant toxins in controlling insect herbivores. Results from the work will provide valuable information for ecological theory and guidance for practical decisions in conservation biology and agriculture.

研究土壤质量、光照、植物化学和昆虫丰度如何相互作用是理解生态系统功能的重要组成部分。热带雨林灌木，胡椒cenocladum，及其相关的昆虫一直是有用的，这样的研究。Piper cenocladum为蚂蚁提供食物和庇护所，保护它免受食草昆虫的侵害，它产生几种毒素，随着土壤质量和光照的适度增加而增加。先前对这一系统的研究表明，蚂蚁控制了专门的食草昆虫，而植物毒素则阻止了具有更广泛饮食的昆虫的食草行为。这些结果是这种不寻常的蚂蚁-植物互惠共生所独有的，还是这些常见的现象可以发生在许多雨林林下植物中？作为探索先前结果的一般性的一步，拟议的研究将研究昆虫，土壤和光线对一种密切相关的植物物种的影响，这些植物物种尚未与蚂蚁进化出互利共生关系。生态学家和化学家之间拟议的合作将允许进行一项彻底的研究，检查昆虫捕食者与植物毒素在控制昆虫食草动物中的作用。这项工作的结果将为生态学理论提供有价值的信息，并为保护生物学和农业的实际决策提供指导。