DISSERTATION RESEARCH: Herbivore Pressure, Inga Chemistry, Toxicity and Defensive Ants: Comparison of two Tropical Communities

论文研究：草食动物压力、因加化学、毒性和防御蚂蚁：两个热带群落的比较

• 批准号: 0407653
• 负责人: Phyllis Coley
• 金额: $ 0.82万
• 依托单位: University of Utah
• 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: 2004-06-01 至 2006-11-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0407653&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: DISSERTATION; RESEARCH; Herbivore; Pressure; Inga

Plants and the animals that eat them make up 50% of the organisms on earth and the interactions among them have profound implications for the diversity and dynamics of natural forests. Plants have evolved an astounding array of chemical defenses to deter herbivores, and herbivores have countered with detoxification mechanisms. This reciprocal selection is believed to be responsible for the great species diversity of tropical forests. However, we know little of the mechanisms shaping the strength of selection for effective plant defenses. This study will examine differences in the defensive chemistry of a widespread Neotropical genus, Inga, by comparing sites in Panama and Ecuador. We predict that herbivore abundance, and hence the selection for plants to defend themselves will be greater in the more diverse and non-seasonal forest in Ecuador. At each site we will quantify herbivore pressure, diversity and abundance of Inga, investments in non-protein amino acids and flavonoids (the main classes of chemical defenses in Inga), toxicity of defenses to herbivores in laboratory trials, and rates of damage to leaves in nature. Despite the presumed importance of reciprocal selection by herbivores and plants on the evolution of chemical defenses, very few studies have addressed this in complex natural communities.

植物和以它们为食的动物占地球上生物体的50%，它们之间的相互作用对天然林的多样性和动态具有深远的影响。植物进化出了一系列惊人的化学防御来阻止食草动物，食草动物也用解毒机制来反击。这种相互选择被认为是热带森林物种多样性的原因。然而，我们对形成有效植物防御的选择强度的机制知之甚少。这项研究将通过比较巴拿马和厄瓜多尔的地点，来研究一种广泛分布的新热带属因加的防御化学差异。我们预测，在厄瓜多尔更加多样化和非季节性的森林中，食草动物的丰度，以及因此选择的植物来保护自己将会更大。在每个站点，我们将量化草食动物的压力，因加的多样性和丰度，非蛋白氨基酸和类黄酮（因加的主要化学防御类）的投资，实验室试验中防御对草食动物的毒性，以及自然界中对叶子的损害率。尽管人们认为食草动物和植物的相互选择对化学防御的进化很重要，但很少有研究在复杂的自然群落中解决这一问题。