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Dear neighbor: trees with extrafloral nectaries facilitate defense and growth of adjacent undefended trees

Staab, Michael ; Pietsch, Stefanie ; Yan, Haoru ; Blüthgen, Nico ; Cheng, Anpeng ; Li, Yi ; Zhang, Naili ; Ma, Keping ; Liu, Xiaojuan (2023)
Dear neighbor: trees with extrafloral nectaries facilitate defense and growth of adjacent undefended trees.
In: Ecology, 104 (7)
doi: 10.1002/ecy.4057
Artikel, Bibliographie

Kurzbeschreibung (Abstract)

Plant diversity can increase productivity. One mechanism behind this biodiversity effect is facilitation, i.e. when one species increases the performance of another species. Plants with extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) establish defense mutualisms with ants. However, whether EFN plants facilitate defense of neighboring non-EFN plants is unknown. Synthesizing data on ants, herbivores, leaf damage, and defense traits from a forest biodiversity experiment, we show that trees growing adjacent to EFN trees had higher ant biomass and species richness, and lower caterpillar biomass than conspecific controls without EFN-bearing neighbors. Concurrently, the composition of defense traits in non-EFN trees changed. Thus, when non-EFN trees benefit from lower herbivore loads due to ants spilling over from EFN tree neighbors, this may allow relatively reduced resource allocation to defense in the former, potentially explaining the higher growth of those trees. Via this mutualist-mediated facilitation, promoting EFN trees in tropical reforestation could foster carbon capture and multiple other ecosystem functions.

Typ des Eintrags: Artikel
Erschienen: 2023
Autor(en): Staab, Michael ; Pietsch, Stefanie ; Yan, Haoru ; Blüthgen, Nico ; Cheng, Anpeng ; Li, Yi ; Zhang, Naili ; Ma, Keping ; Liu, Xiaojuan
Art des Eintrags: Bibliographie
Titel: Dear neighbor: trees with extrafloral nectaries facilitate defense and growth of adjacent undefended trees
Sprache: Englisch
Publikationsjahr: 20 April 2023
Titel der Zeitschrift, Zeitung oder Schriftenreihe: Ecology
Jahrgang/Volume einer Zeitschrift: 104
(Heft-)Nummer: 7
DOI: 10.1002/ecy.4057
Kurzbeschreibung (Abstract):

Plant diversity can increase productivity. One mechanism behind this biodiversity effect is facilitation, i.e. when one species increases the performance of another species. Plants with extrafloral nectaries (EFNs) establish defense mutualisms with ants. However, whether EFN plants facilitate defense of neighboring non-EFN plants is unknown. Synthesizing data on ants, herbivores, leaf damage, and defense traits from a forest biodiversity experiment, we show that trees growing adjacent to EFN trees had higher ant biomass and species richness, and lower caterpillar biomass than conspecific controls without EFN-bearing neighbors. Concurrently, the composition of defense traits in non-EFN trees changed. Thus, when non-EFN trees benefit from lower herbivore loads due to ants spilling over from EFN tree neighbors, this may allow relatively reduced resource allocation to defense in the former, potentially explaining the higher growth of those trees. Via this mutualist-mediated facilitation, promoting EFN trees in tropical reforestation could foster carbon capture and multiple other ecosystem functions.

ID-Nummer: pmid:37078562
Zusätzliche Informationen:

Artikel-ID: e4057

Fachbereich(e)/-gebiet(e): 10 Fachbereich Biologie
10 Fachbereich Biologie > Ecological Networks
Hinterlegungsdatum: 24 Apr 2023 11:08
Letzte Änderung: 10 Jul 2023 12:33
PPN: 50724303X
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