Can the evolution of plant defense lead to plant-herbivore mutualism?

The American Naturalist
Claire de MazancourtU Dieckmann

Abstract

Moderate rates of herbivory can enhance primary production. This hypothesis has led to a controversy as to whether such positive effects can result in mutualistic interactions between plants and herbivores. We present a model for the ecology and evolution of plant-herbivore systems to address this question. In this model, herbivores have a positive indirect effect on plants through recycling of a limiting nutrient. Plants can evolve but are constrained by a trade-off between growth and antiherbivore defense. Although evolution generally does not lead to optimal plant performance, our evolutionary analysis shows that, under certain conditions, the plant-herbivore interaction can be considered mutualistic. This requires in particular that herbivores efficiently recycle nutrients and that plant reproduction be positively correlated with primary production. We emphasize that two different definitions of mutualism need to be distinguished. A first ecological definition of mutualism is based on the short-term response of plants to herbivore removal, whereas a second evolutionary definition rests on the long-term response of plants to herbivore removal, allowing plants to adapt to the absence of herbivores. The conditions for an evolu...Continue Reading

References

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Citations

Feb 5, 2004·Journal of Theoretical Biology·Norio YamamuraJoe Yuichiro Wakano
Feb 10, 2004·Theoretical Population Biology·C RuefflerJ A J Metz
Dec 17, 2009·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Michel Loreau
Nov 22, 2011·Nucleic Acids Research·Tracy Tiefenbach, Murray Junop
Dec 17, 2011·The American Naturalist·Thomas HovestadtKarsten Schönrogge
May 4, 2004·The American Naturalist·Michel Loreau, Robert D Holt
Jun 26, 2007·Journal of Theoretical Biology·Motoyuki HayashiAtsushi Yamauchi
Jun 19, 2008·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Jon R Haloin, Sharon Y Strauss
Mar 16, 2016·The ISME Journal·Marta Pinto-CarbóAurelien Carlier
May 12, 2010·Ecology Letters·Claire de Mazancourt, Mark W Schwartz
May 5, 2012·Mathematical Biosciences·Samrat Chatterjee
Jun 10, 2019·The New Phytologist·Sally ArchibaldCaroline Lehmann
Sep 14, 2018·Bulletin of Mathematical Biology·Roger Cropp, John Norbury
Mar 27, 2019·Ecology·Satu RamulaJuha Tuomi
May 19, 2021·Nature Communications·Christopher A JohnsonRégis Ferrière

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