Journal of Plant Ecology【🎉Latest accepted article】
Soil conditions mediate cucumber-root (Medeola virginiana) plant responses to #White_tailedDeer #Herbivory
#SoilAcidification | #EcologicalIndicator | #Lime | #Herbicide | #SoilChemistry
Jinan Lu et al. explored #Silicon mediates geographic variation of herbivory-related traits in a widespread plant invader.
#BiologicalInvasion | #Herbivory | #LatitudinalVariation | #PlantDefenses | #InvasionEcology | #SpeciesInteraction
⭐ #Silicon ➡️ Plant defensive/nutritional traits and #Herbivory
Samples
Spartina alterniflora
Mythimna separata & Locusta migratoria
#BiologicalInvasion | #LatitudinalVariation | #PlantDefenses | #InvasionEcology | #SpeciesInteraction
J of Systematics and EvolutionIn the current issue of #JSE, Wang et al. explore the complex interplay between #pollinators and #flower features like scent and color, and the impact of this interaction on #plant #reproductive success and #herbivory.
https://doi.org/10.1111/jse.13185
@WileyEcology
#PlantSci #adaptation #botany
Jon SullivanI love how delightfully diabolical evolution can be.
A new article in Annual Review of Entomology is about the plant pathogens that are vectored between plants by herbivorous insects. These plant pathogens invade plant tissues and make plants sick. To get between plants they hitch a ride inside plant-feeding insects. The healthier the insect the more plants it will feed on.
So, what do the microbes do? They manufacture chemicals that make their insect hosts stronger. Several ways that they do this have been discovered "from balancing a nutritionally deficient diet" to "upgrading its defensive biochemistry against natural enemies."
Wild!
"Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts" by
Aileen Berasategui and Hassan Salem
https://www.annualreviews.org/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-ento-121423-013411
#entomology #SpeciesInteractions #mutualism #ecology #PlantPathogens #Herbivory #insects
Plant Pathogens Moonlighting as Beneficial Insect Symbionts
Herbivorous insects can shape the epidemiology of disease in plants by vectoring numerous phytopathogens. While the consequences of infection are often well-characterized in the host plant, the extent to which phytopathogens alter the physiology and development of their insect vectors remains poorly understood. In this review, we highlight how insect-borne phytopathogens can promote vector fitness, consistent with theoretical predictions that selection should favor a mutualistic or commensal phenotype. In doing so, we define the metabolic features predisposing plant pathogens to engage in beneficial partnerships with herbivorous insects and how these mutualisms promote the microbe's propagation to uninfected plants. For the vector, the benefits of co-opting microbial pathways and metabolites can be immense: from balancing a nutritionally deficient diet and unlocking a novel ecological niche to upgrading its defensive biochemistry against natural enemies. Given the independent origins of these tripartite interactions and a number of convergent features, we also discuss the evolutionary and genomic signatures underlying microbial adaptation to its dual lifestyle as both a plant pathogen and an insect mutualist. Finally, as host association can constrain the metabolic potential of microbes over evolutionary time, we outline the stability of these interactions and how they impact the virulence and transmission of plant pathogens.
Watch out: the weather is warming and the American ragwort aphids are *multiplying*.
American ragwort aphids specialise on Senecio plants, of which NZ has many species, including some threatened endemic species.
The aphid arrived in NZ (somehow) in 2023, and has since got to work munching on our plants. The American aphids are also now being tended and protected by exotic Australian ants.
In the South Island these aphids are still restricted to Christchurch city (at least based on observations on #iNaturalist and #GBIF).
It would be great if you could keep a look out for them in other places. They're the only big black aphid in NZ (black bodies and legs).
Here are three of my observations of them from this month.
#aphids #PlantInsectInteractions #herbivory #BiologicalInvasions #NZ #Christchurch #iNaturalistNZ #insects #entomology
NIOO-KNAWNew publication: Genetic variation in #leaf chemistry driven by #herbivory affects #phyllosphere fungal communities in an invasive plant.
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtaf069
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtaf069
The kōwhai trees are in fabulous full bloom across Ōtautahi-Christchurch city, NZ. They're blooming about a month late this year and are making up for that with a huge number of flowers.
That's making the korimako and kererū in the Cashmere hills happy. The korimako are pollinating the kōwhai flowers, which I guess also makes the kōwhai happy, to the extent that a kōwhai tree can be happy. The kererū, on the other hand, are eating the kowhai's flowers and young leaves.
korimako: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/315198237
kererū: https://inaturalist.nz/observations/315196715
#NZ #nature #Christchurch #Ōtautahi #birds #pollination #herbivory #Anthornis #Hemiphaga #kererū #korimako
GinaYellow Sand Verbena (Abronia latifolia) has some unique adaptations: it relies on salt water to survive and uses psammophory—coating itself with sand—to deter herbivores.
#herbivory #saltwater #plants #wildflowers #nature #wildlife #california
Gumplants (Grindelia species) produce a sticky resin that may help deter grazing insects and protect flower buds from intense sunlight.
#resins #herbivory #sunscreen #plants #wildflowers #nature #wildlife #california
