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Competition-defense tradeoffs and the maintenance of plant diversity.

ABSTRACT: Ecologists have long observed that consumers can maintain species diversity in communities of their prey. Many theories of how consumers mediate diversity invoke a tradeoff between species' competitive ability and their ability to withstand predation. Under this constraint, the best competitors are also most susceptible to consumers, preventing them from excluding other species. However, empirical evidence for competition-defense tradeoffs is limited and, as such, the mechanisms by which consumers regulate diversity remain uncertain. We performed a meta-analysis of 36 studies to evaluate the prevalence of the competition-defense tradeoff and its role in maintaining diversity in plant communities. We quantified species' responses to experimental resource addition and consumer removal as estimates of competitive ability and resistance to consumers, respectively. With this analysis, we found mixed empirical evidence for a competition-defense tradeoff; in fact, competitive ability tended to be weakly positively correlated with defense overall. However, when present, negative relationships between competitive ability and defense influenced species diversity in the manner predicted by theory. In the minority of communities for which a tradeoff was detected, species evenness was higher, and resource addition and consumer removal reduced diversity. Our analysis reframes the commonly held notion that consumers structure plant communities through a competition-defense tradeoff. Such a tradeoff can maintain diversity when present, but negative correlations between competitive ability and defense were less common than is often assumed. In this respect, this study supports an emerging theoretical paradigm in which predation interacts with competition to both enhance and reduce species diversity.

SUBMITTER: Viola DV

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2951440 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Competition-defense tradeoffs and the maintenance of plant diversity.

Viola David V DV Mordecai Erin A EA Jaramillo Alejandra G AG Sistla Seeta A SA Albertson Lindsey K LK Gosnell J Stephen JS Cardinale Bradley J BJ Levine Jonathan M JM

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20100920 40

Ecologists have long observed that consumers can maintain species diversity in communities of their prey. Many theories of how consumers mediate diversity invoke a tradeoff between species' competitive ability and their ability to withstand predation. Under this constraint, the best competitors are also most susceptible to consumers, preventing them from excluding other species. However, empirical evidence for competition-defense tradeoffs is limited and, as such, the mechanisms by which consume ...[more]

PMID: 20855605

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Plant elicitor peptides (Peps) are endogenous molecules that induce and amplify the first line of inducible plant defense, known as pattern-triggered immunity, contributing to protect plants against attack by bacteria, fungi and herbivores. Pep topic application and transgenic expression have been found to enhance disease resistance in a small number of model plant-pathogen systems. The action of Peps relies on perception by specific receptors, so displaying a family-specific activity. Recently, the presence and activity of Peps within the Rosaceae has been demonstrated. Here we characterized the population of Pep sequences within the economically important plant family of Rosaceae, with special emphasis on the Amygdaleae and Pyreae tribes, which include the most relevant edible species such as apple, pear and peach, and numerous ornamental and wild species (e.g. photinia, firethorn and hawthorn). RESULTS:The systematic experimental search for Pep and the corresponding precursor PROPEP sequences within 36 Amygdaleae and Pyreae species, and 100 cultivars had a highly homogeneous pattern, with two tribe-specific Pep types per plant, i.e. Pep1 and Pep2 (Amygdaleae) or Pep3 and Pep4 (Pyreae). Pep2 and Pep3 are highly conserved, reaching identity percentages similar to those of genes used in plant phylogenetic analyses, while Pep1 and Pep4 are somewhat more variable, with similar values to the corresponding PROPEPs. In contrast to Pep3 and Pep4, Pep1 and Pep2 sequences of different species paralleled their phylogenetic relationships, and putative ancestor sequences were identified. The large amount of sequences allowed refining of a C-terminal consensus sequence that would support the protective activity of Pep1-4 in a Prunus spp. and Xanthomonas arboricola pv. pruni system. Moreover, tribe-specific consensus sequences were deduced at the center and C-terminal regions of Peps, which might explain the higher protection efficiencies described upon topic treatments with Peps from the same tribe. CONCLUSIONS:The present study substantially enhances the knowledge on Peps within the Amygdaleae and Pyreae species. It can be the basis to design and fine-tune new control tools against important plant pathogens affecting Prunus, Pyrus and Malus species.

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Competition-defense tradeoffs and the maintenance of plant diversity.

Publications

Competition-defense tradeoffs and the maintenance of plant diversity.

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