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Bottom-up effects of plant genotype on aphids, ants, and predators
- Source :
- Ecology. Jan, 2008, Vol. 89 Issue 1, p145, 10 p.
- Publication Year :
- 2008
-
Abstract
- Theory predicts that bottom-up ecological forces can affect community dynamics, but whether this extends to the effects of heritable plant variation on tritrophic communities is poorly understood. In a field experiment, I contrasted the effects of plant genotype (28 genotypes; 1064 plants), aphid density, and the presence/absence of mutualistic ants in affecting the per capita population growth of a specialist aphid herbivore, as well as the effects of plant genotype on the third trophic level. Plant genotype strongly affected aphid population growth rate, explaining 29% of the total variation in growth rate, whereas aphid density and ant-aphid interactions explained substantially less variation (
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00129658
- Volume :
- 89
- Issue :
- 1
- Database :
- Gale General OneFile
- Journal :
- Ecology
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- edsgcl.176592485