Back to Search Start Over

Plasticity in induced resistance to sequential attack by multiple herbivores in Brassica nigra

Authors :
Maite Fernández de Bobadilla
Gerrit Gort
Roel Van Wiechen
Erik H. Poelman
Source :
Oecologia, 198(1), 11-20, Oecologia, Oecologia 198 (2022) 1
Publication Year :
2021
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2021.

Abstract

In nature, plants interact with multiple insect herbivores that may arrive simultaneously or sequentially. There is extensive knowledge on how plants defend themselves against single or dual attack. However, we lack information on how plants defend against the attack of multiple herbivores that arrive sequentially. In this study, we investigated whether Brassica nigra L. plants are able to defend themselves against caterpillars of the late-arriving herbivore Plutella xylostella L., when plants had been previously exposed to sequential attack by four other herbivores (P. xylostella, Athalia rosae, Myzus persicae and Brevicoryne brassicae). We manipulated the order of arrival and the history of attack by four herbivores to investigate which patterns in sequential herbivory determine resistance against the fifth attacker. We recorded that history of sequential herbivore attack differentially affected the capability of B. nigra plants to defend themselves against caterpillars of P. xylostella. Caterpillars gained less weight on plants attacked by a sequence of four episodes of attack by P. xylostella compared to performance on plants that were not previously damaged by herbivores. The number of times the plant was attacked by herbivores of the same feeding guild, the identity of the first attacker, the identity and the guild of the last attacker as well as the order of attackers within the sequence of multiple herbivores influenced the growth of the subsequent herbivory. In conclusion, this study shows that history of sequential attack is an important factor determining plant resistance to herbivores.

Details

ISSN :
14321939 and 00298549
Volume :
198
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Oecologia
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....7a990fca7c1d7fe45d50791a2279a7a4
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-021-05043-1