Compensation and resistance to herbivory in seagrasses: induced responses to simulated consumption by fish

Oecologia
Adriana VergésJavier Romero

Abstract

Herbivory can induce changes in plant traits that may involve both tolerance mechanisms that compensate for biomass loss and resistance traits that reduce herbivore preference. Seagrasses are marine vascular plants that possess many attributes that may favour tolerance and compensatory growth, and they are also defended with mechanisms of resistance such as toughness and secondary metabolites. We quantified phenotypic changes induced by herbivore damage on the temperate seagrass Posidonia oceanica in order to identify specific compensatory and resistance mechanisms in this plant, and to assess any potential trade-offs between these two strategies of defence. We simulated three natural levels of fish herbivory by repeatedly clipping seagrass leaves during the summer period of maximum herbivory. Compensatory responses were determined by measuring shoot-specific growth, photosynthetic rate, and the concentration of nitrogen and carbon resources in leaves and rhizomes. Induced resistance was determined by measuring the concentration of phenolic secondary metabolites and by assessing the long-term effects of continued clipping on herbivore feeding preferences using bioassays. Plants showed a significant ability to compensate for low...Continue Reading

References

May 14, 1999·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·S Y Strauss, A A Agrawal
Jul 5, 2001·Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology·T AlcoverroE Ballesteros
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Citations

Apr 19, 2015·Marine Environmental Research·Fabio Bulleri, Francesco Malquori
Sep 3, 2013·Marine Pollution Bulletin·Ruby G GarthwinAdriana Vergés
Aug 17, 2017·PloS One·Rocío Jiménez-RamosFernando G Brun
Oct 28, 2015·PloS One·Begoña Martínez-CregoMarkus Molis
Jul 1, 2017·Frontiers in Plant Science·Stacey M Trevathan-TackettPeter J Ralph
Mar 1, 2018·Frontiers in Plant Science·Abigail L ScottMichael A Rasheed

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