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Tolerance to herbivory and the resource availability hypothesis.

Ernesto Gianoli1,2, Cristian Salgado-Luarte3

  • 1Departamento de Biología, Universidad de La Serena, Casilla 554 La Serena, Chile egianoli@userena.cl.

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|May 12, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Fast-growing plants show greater tolerance to herbivory, supporting the resource availability hypothesis (RAH). Evaluating plant tolerance is crucial for verifying RAH assumptions about defense strategies.

Keywords:
forestherbivoryleaf lifespanrelative growth ratetolerance

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Plant Science
  • Evolutionary Biology

Background:

  • The resource availability hypothesis (RAH) links plant defense investment to relative growth rate (RGR) and habitat quality.
  • RAH predicts fast-growing species have lower resistance but higher tolerance to herbivory, a prediction rarely tested.
  • Fitness consequences of herbivory for slow-growing species are often assumed to be greater, but require empirical validation.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To test the RAH prediction that fast-growing plant species exhibit greater tolerance to herbivory than slow-growing species.
  • To investigate if other plant traits, such as leaf lifespan, shade tolerance, and leaf toughness, correlate with RGR and influence herbivory tolerance.
  • To determine the primary predictor of herbivory tolerance among RGR and associated plant traits.

Main Methods:

  • Field study conducted in a temperate rainforest setting.
  • Assessed tolerance to herbivory in seedlings of various tree species.
  • Measured relative growth rate (RGR) and evaluated plant features including leaf lifespan, shade tolerance, and leaf toughness.

Main Results:

  • Seedlings of tree species with higher RGR demonstrated significantly greater tolerance to herbivory.
  • Leaf lifespan was the only measured plant feature significantly associated with RGR.
  • Relative growth rate (RGR) emerged as the strongest predictor of plant tolerance to herbivory.

Conclusions:

  • The study supports the RAH's prediction regarding the relationship between RGR and herbivory tolerance in plants.
  • Plant tolerance to herbivory is a critical factor that must be assessed to validate the assumptions of the RAH.
  • Findings highlight the importance of considering tolerance alongside resistance in plant defense theory.