Dissertation Research: The Role of Plant Parasitism in Community Structure

9311301 Doak与大多数植物从土壤中获取水分和养分以及从光合作用中获取碳水化合物不同，寄生植物物种通过利用其他植物物种的维管系统来获取至少部分水分、养分和碳水化合物。尽管寄生植物广泛存在，但寄生植物在构建植物群落和食草动物群落中的作用却很少受到研究者的关注。这项拟议的研究将研究从寄主植物到寄生植物的养分、水分和次生化合物转移的作用，以及这种转移不仅对植物物种，而且对利用寄生植物和寄主植物的食草性昆虫的影响。一系列田间和温室研究将1)研究寄生植物对其周围植物和草食动物群落的影响，2)比较寄生植物和草食植物两种类型的植物捕食者对寄主植物性能和植物群落结构的影响和相互作用。这项工作将提供关于寄生植物何时以及为什么在自然生态社区和农业环境中发挥重大影响的信息，在这些环境中，几种寄生植物是重要的经济杂草。%更广泛地说，这项工作将从群落范围的影响和对其他共生物种的间接相互作用的角度来研究复杂的寄生虫-宿主相互作用。*INI P鼠标sys@j！X DOSAPP INI VB 9311301 Doak不像大多数植物那样，从土壤中获取水分和养分，从光合作用中获得碳水化合物，parasi&amp；(J L d i#(F(Times New Roman符号&amp；Arial/Marvier摘要论文伊丽莎白·M·贝伦斯伊丽莎白·M·贝伦斯

9311301 Doak Unlike most plants which obtain water and nutrients from the soil and carbohydrates from photosynthesis, parasitic plant species obtain at least some of their water, nutrients, and carbohydrates by tapping into the vascular systems of other plant species. Despite their widespread occurrence, the role of parasitic plants in structuring plant and herbivore communities has received little attention from researchers. The proposed research will examine the role of nutrient, water, and secondary compound transfer from host plants to parasitic plants, and the effect of this transfer not only on the plant species, but also on the insect herbivores exploiting both the parasite and host plants. A series of field and greenhouse studies will 1) examine the effects of parasitic plants on their surrounding plant and herbivore communities and 2) compare the impacts and interactions of two types of plant predators, parasitic plants and herbivores, on host plant performance and plant community structure. This work will provide information on when and why parasitic plants exert significant effects in natural ecological communities and in agricultural settings, where several parasitic plants are economically important weeds. %%% More generally, this work will examine a complex parasite-host interaction from the viewpoint of its community-wide effects and its indirect interactions on other co-occurring species. *** INI P MOUSE SYS @ j ! x DOSAPP INI Vb 9311301 Doak Unlike most plants which obtain water and nutrients from the soil and carbohydrates from phot osynthesis, parasi & ( J L d i # ( F ( ( ( Times New Roman Symbol & Arial " h M eM e Doak/Marvier abstract Dissertation Elizabeth M. Behrens Elizabeth M. Behrens