Dataset Information

Defense pattern of Chinese cork oak across latitudinal gradients: influences of ontogeny, herbivory, climate and soil nutrients.

ABSTRACT: Knowledge of latitudinal patterns in plant defense and herbivory is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that govern ecosystem functioning and for predicting their responses to climate change. Using a widely distributed species in East Asia, Quercus variabilis, we aim to reveal defense patterns of trees with respect to ontogeny along latitudinal gradients. Six leaf chemical (total phenolics and total condensed tannin concentrations) and physical (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and dry mass concentration) defensive traits as well as leaf herbivory (% leaf area loss) were investigated in natural Chinese cork oak (Q. variabilis) forests across two ontogenetic stages (juvenile and mature trees) along a ~14°-latitudinal gradient. Our results showed that juveniles had higher herbivory values and a higher concentration of leaf chemical defense substances compared with mature trees across the latitudinal gradient. In addition, chemical defense and herbivory in both ontogenetic stages decreased with increasing latitude, which supports the latitudinal herbivory-defense hypothesis and optimal defense theory. The identified trade-offs between chemical and physical defense were primarily determined by environmental variation associated with the latitudinal gradient, with the climatic factors (annual precipitation, minimum temperature of the coldest month) largely contributing to the latitudinal defense pattern in both juvenile and mature oak trees.

SUBMITTER: Wang XF

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4890039 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Defense pattern of Chinese cork oak across latitudinal gradients: influences of ontogeny, herbivory, climate and soil nutrients.

Wang Xiao-Fei XF Liu Jian-Feng JF Gao Wen-Qiang WQ Deng Yun-Peng YP Ni Yan-Yan YY Xiao Yi-Hua YH Kang Feng-Feng FF Wang Qi Q Lei Jing-Pin JP Jiang Ze-Ping ZP

Scientific reports 20160602

Knowledge of latitudinal patterns in plant defense and herbivory is crucial for understanding the mechanisms that govern ecosystem functioning and for predicting their responses to climate change. Using a widely distributed species in East Asia, Quercus variabilis, we aim to reveal defense patterns of trees with respect to ontogeny along latitudinal gradients. Six leaf chemical (total phenolics and total condensed tannin concentrations) and physical (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin and dry mass ...[more]

PMID: 27252112

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Project description:AimLatitudinal gradients in life-history traits are apparent in many taxa and are expected to be strong for ectotherms that have temperature-driven constraints on performance and fitness. The strength of these gradients, however, should also be affected by diet. Because diet type (carnivory, omnivory, herbivory) influences accessibility to nutrition and assimilation efficiency, we aim to study how diet affects latitudinal gradients in lifetime reproductive output and the underlying life-history traits in ectotherms.LocationGlobal.Time periodRecent.Major taxa studiedLizards (Reptilia, Squamata, Sauria).MethodsWe used empirical (352 species) and phylogenetically imputed data (563 species) to analyse the interactive effects of latitude and diet on life-history traits (longevity, age at maturity, reproductive life span, hatchling mass, clutch/brood size, clutch/brood frequency, female mass) and lifetime reproductive output of lizards.ResultsLifetime reproductive output does not significantly differ in lizards across diet types, and only carnivores exhibit a small increase at higher latitudes. Diet type, however, influences latitudinal patterns of individual life-history traits. Carnivores exhibit a shift towards 'slower-paced' life histories at higher latitudes for most traits (increased longevity, age at maturity, reproductive life span, and decreased clutch frequency). By contrast, herbivores either display 'faster-paced' life histories (reduction in reproductive life span, hatchling mass, female mass) or no change (clutch frequency, clutch size, age at maturity) at higher latitudes. Omnivores exhibit intermediate and muted latitudinal patterns.Main conclusionsWe suggest that the nutritional challenges of herbivory, compounded by thermal constraints at higher latitudes, may explain differences in life-history characteristics of herbivorous ectotherms. Intermediate patterns exhibited by omnivores highlight how flexibility in diet can buffer environmental challenges at higher latitudes. Our results indicate that lizards with different diet types display various trends in their life histories across latitudes, which eventually balance out to result in similar reproductive outputs throughout their lifetime, with little benefits to carnivory.

Project description:Coastal ecosystems are among the most human-impacted habitats globally, and their management is often critically linked to recovery of declining native species. In the San Francisco Estuary, the Delta Smelt (Hypomesus transpacificus) is an endemic, endangered fish strongly tied to Californian conservation planning. The complex life history of Delta Smelt combined with dynamic seasonal and spatial abiotic conditions result in dissimilar environments experienced among ontogenetic stages, which may yield stage-specific susceptibility to abiotic stressors. Climate change is forecasted to increase San Francisco Estuary water temperature and salinity; therefore, understanding the influences of ontogeny and phenotypic plasticity on tolerance to these critical environmental parameters is particularly important for Delta Smelt and other San Francisco Estuary fishes. We assessed thermal and salinity limits in several ontogenetic stages and acclimation states of Delta Smelt, and paired these data with environmental data to evaluate sensitivity to climate-change stressors. Thermal tolerance decreased among successive stages, with larval fish exhibiting the highest tolerance and post-spawning adults having the lowest. Delta Smelt had limited capacity to increase tolerance through thermal acclimation, and comparisons with field temperature data revealed that juvenile tolerance limits are the closest to current environmental conditions, which may make this stage especially susceptible to future climate warming. Maximal water temperatures observed in situ exceeded tolerance limits of juveniles and adults. Although these temperature events are currently rare, if they increase in frequency as predicted, it could result in habitat loss at these locations despite other favourable conditions for Delta Smelt. In contrast, Delta Smelt tolerated salinities spanning the range of expected environmental conditions for each ontogenetic stage, but salinity did impact survival in juvenile and adult stages in exposures over acute time scales. Our results underscore the importance of considering ontogeny and phenotypic plasticity in assessing the impacts of climate change, particularly for species adapted to spatially and temporally heterogeneous environments.

Dataset Information

Defense pattern of Chinese cork oak across latitudinal gradients: influences of ontogeny, herbivory, climate and soil nutrients.

Publications

Defense pattern of Chinese cork oak across latitudinal gradients: influences of ontogeny, herbivory, climate and soil nutrients.

Similar Datasets

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