Ontogenetic consistency in oak defence syndromes

作者：Xoaquín Moreira, Luis Abdala‐Roberts, Andrea Galmán, Andrew W. Bartlow, Jorge C. Berny Mier y Terán, Elisa Carrari, Felisa Covelo, María de la Fuente, Scott Ferrenberg, Nikolaos M. Fyllas, Yasutomo Hoshika, Steven R. Lee, Robert J. Marquis, Masahiro Nakamura, Colleen S. Nell, Mario B. Pesendorfer, Michael A. Steele, Carla Vázquez‐González, Shuang Zhang, Sergio Rasmann · 发表于：Journal of Ecology · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1111/1365-2745.13376 · 被引用次数：23 · 研究领域：Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies、Plant and animal studies、Forest Insect Ecology and Management

Abstract Plant species allocate resources to multiple defensive traits simultaneously, often leading to so‐called defence syndromes (i.e. suites of traits that are co-expressed across several species). While reports of ontogenetic variation in plant defences are commonplace, no study to date has tested for ontogenetic shifts in defence syndromes, and we know little about the ecological and evolutionary drivers of variation in plant defence syndromes across ontogeny. We tested for ontogenetic variation in plant defence syndromes by measuring a suite of defensive and nutritional traits on saplings and adult trees of 29 oak ( Quercus , Fagaceae) species distributed across Europe, North America, and Asia. In addition, we investigated if these syndromes exhibited a phylogenetic signal to elucidate the nature of their macro‐evolutionary variation, whether they were associated with levels of herbivore pressure and climatic conditions, and if any such evolutionary and ecological patterns were contingent on ontogeny. Our analyses revealed three distinct oak defence syndromes: the first included species with high defences, the second species with high defences and low nutrient levels, and the third species with high nutrients and thinner leaves. Interestingly, these defence syndromes remained virtually unchanged across the two ontogenetic stages sampled. In addition, our analyses indicated no evidence for a phylogenetic signal in oak syndromes, a result consistent across ontogenetic st...