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Journal ArticleDOI

Insect folivory in Didymopanax vinosum (Apiaceae) in a vegetation mosaic of Brazilian cerrado.

01 May 2006-Brazilian Journal of Biology (Instituto Internacional de Ecologia)-Vol. 66, pp 671-680
TL;DR: The findings suggest that, at least in this species, other chemical compounds or variables related to plant apparency and resource availability to herbivores (e.g. plant architecture) might play a more decisive role in the spatial variation of folivory than the nutritional and defensive traits that were analyzed.
Abstract: Susceptibility of Didymopanax vinosum (Apiaceae) to insect herbivores was investigated in three sites of a cerrado mosaic - composed of campo cerrado (a grassland with scattered trees and shrubs), cerradao (a tall woodland) and cerrado sensu stricto (intermediate between the two) - situated in Cerrado Pe-de-Gigante, Santa Rita do Passa Quatro, SP, Brazil. We also examined the relationship of folivory with the composition and abundance of the insect herbivore fauna, and with several nutritional and defensive plant characteristics (water, nitrogen, cellulose, lignin, tannin leaf contents, and leaf toughness). We collected insects associated with D. vinosum every month, and we measured leaf damage every three months. In general, the annual folivory differed among sites. It reached the highest rates in site 1 and site 3: 7.33 and 8.5 percent, respectively. Only 1.32 percent of annual folivory was observed in site 2. These levels resulted from the higher abundance, in sites 1 and 3, of the thrips Liothrips didymopanacis (Phlaeothripidae), the most abundant herbivore sampled, responsible for more than 90 percent of the observed damage. However, no significant relationship was found between insect activity and the chemical and physical composition of the leaves. Our findings suggest that, at least in this species, other chemical compounds or variables related to plant apparency and resource availability to herbivores (e.g. plant architecture) might play a more decisive role in the spatial variation of folivory than the nutritional and defensive traits that were analyzed.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
01 Dec 2013
TL;DR: Biomassa foliar foi selecionada como a variavel mais importante para explicar a taxa de herbivoria em floresta e em cerrado, reforcando a necessidade da quantificacao da biomassa em estudos semelhantes.
Abstract: RESUMO. Como o ambiente e um dos principais fatores responsaveis pelas caracteristicas morfologicas de especies vegetais, e esperado encontrar diferentes taxas de herbivoria em individuos de ambientes distintos. Neste trabalho comparamos a taxa de herbivoria foliar em Peltogyne confertiflora (Mart. ex Hayne) Benth. entre ambiente de floresta e de cerrado e avaliamos se a herbivoria e explicada por caracteristicas morfologicas dos individuos ou pela quantidade de recurso. A taxa de herbivoria foi maior em ambiente florestal. Biomassa foliar foi selecionada como a variavel mais importante para explicar a taxa de herbivoria em floresta e em cerrado. Aparentemente existe um efeito densidade-dependente na taxa de herbivoria, reforcando a necessidade da quantificacao da biomassa em estudos semelhantes. [Palavras-chave: fitofisionomias, predacao foliar, interacao planta-animal]

1 citations


Cites background from "Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..."

  • ...…ambientes florestais tem sido observada em diversos estudos (Neves et al. 2010; Silva et al. 2009; Varanda & Pais 2006), e como consequência o nível de sombreamento tem sido considerado um bom parâmetro determinar taxas de herbivoria (Peace & Grubb 1982; Dimarco et al. 2004; Varanda & Pais 2006)....

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  • ...A maior herbivoria em ambientes florestais tem sido observada em diversos estudos (Neves et al. 2010; Silva et al. 2009; Varanda & Pais 2006), e como consequência o nível de sombreamento tem sido considerado um bom parâmetro determinar taxas de herbivoria (Peace & Grubb 1982; Dimarco et al. 2004;…...

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Dissertation
22 Feb 2010
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured nine defense traits from a woodland cerrado community in southeastern Brazil and grouped the species into defense syndromes according to their traits, showing that the correlation between all pairs of traits were complementary.
Abstract: As plantas possuem tracos contra herbivoria que podem ocorrer conjuntamente e aumentar a eficiencia da defesa. Testamos se ha sindromes de defesa em uma comunidade de plantas do cerrado e caso haja, se elas apresentam sinal filogenetico. Medimos nove tracos de defesa em uma comunidade de cerrado sensu stricto no sudeste do Brasil. Testamos a correlacao entre todos os pares de tracos e agrupamos as especies em sindromes de defesa de acordo com os tracos. A maioria das correlacoes par a par dos tracos foi complementar. Plantas com menores areas foliares especificas apresentaram tambem folhas duras, com menos nitrogenio, com mais tricomas e com taninos. Encontramos cinco sindromes: duas com baixos valores de defesa e alta qualidade nutricional, duas com altos valores de defesa e baixa qualidade nutricional e uma com tracos compensando uns aos outros. Houve duas estrategias de defesa contra herbivoria predominantes no cerrado: as sindromes de tolerancia e de baixa qualidade nutricional. Filogenia nao determinou o conjunto de tracos que as especies apresentaram; entao, postulamos que a herbivoria atua como um fator biotico selecionando esses tracos. A complementaridade permite a coexistencia das especies e um uso mais eficiente do nicho. Originalidade de uma especie e o quanto aquela especie contribui para a raridade de tracos. Testamos a relacao entre abundancia e as originalidades filogenetica e fenotipica e comparamos a extincao baseada na abundancia com extincoes aleatorias. A abundancia nao esteve relacionada com as originalidades, que por sua vez, nao estiveram relacionadas entre si. Extincoes baseadas na abundancia nao diferiram do acaso. Entretanto, as originalidades estiveram concentradas em poucas especies e quatro das mais originais estavam entre as mais raras. Essas especies contribuiram para a raridade de tracos mais do que as especies comuns e podem contribuir para dinamicas compensatorias e manutencao da estabilidade da comunidade. Logo, a abundancia das especies pode nao ser um fator predominante na manutencao das funcoes no cerrado.%%%%Plants have traits against herbivory that may occur together and increase defense efficiency. We tested whether there are defense syndromes in a cerrado community and, if so, whether there is a phylogenetic signal in them. We measured nine defense traits from a woodland cerrado community in southeastern Brazil. We tested the correlation between all pairs of traits and grouped the species into defense syndromes according to their traits. Most pairwise correlations of traits were complementary. Plants with lower specific leaf area also presented tougher leaves, with low nitrogen, more trichomes, and tannins. We found five syndromes: two with low defenses and high nutritional quality, two with high defenses and low nutritional quality, and one with traits compensating each other. There were two predominant strategies against herbivory in cerrado: tolerance and low nutritional quality syndromes. Phylogeny was not determining the suite of traits species presented; so, herbivory…

1 citations


Cites background from "Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..."

  • ...Particularly in the Brazilian cerrado, herbivory surveys are restricted to only one species (e.g., Varanda and Pais 2006) or only a defense trait, such as presence of extra-floral nectaries to ant association (e.g., Oliveira 1997, Oliveira and Freitas 2004) or latex presence (e.g., Diniz et al.…...

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Journal Article
TL;DR: Information on different leaf resource users and their food-plants provide an insight into the complex web of forest biotic interactions and such data will be valuable for biological conservation.
Abstract: We investigated leaf traits of 110 plant species and the seasonal patterns of leaf damage by diverse foliar herbivores in tropical dry evergreen forest (TDEF) on the Coromandel Coast of India. The leaves of 110 plant species of TDEF are consumed by fifty-four species of foliar herbivores that includes beetles, larvae and grasshoppers. Mean leaf damage ranged from 1.8% to 21% during the study period (2012–14). The mean leaf damage varied by season with a high value of 16.19±10.44% in monsoon, 9.66±6.66 % in pre-monsoon, 5.24±4.10 % in post-monsoon and 1.97±1.52 % in summer. Among tree species, Memecylon umbellatum showed maximum leaf damage and among liana species, Combretum albidum suffered maximum leaf damage. Information on different leaf resource users and their food-plants provide an insight into the complex web of forest biotic interactions and such data will be valuable for biological conservation.

1 citations


Cites background from "Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..."

  • ...Coleopterans are the major leaf-eaters (of 57% plant species) in tropical dry evergreen forest as also reported in many other tropical forests (Murali & Sukumar 1993, Varanda & Paise 2006)....

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01 Jan 2012
TL;DR: Authors improved and technically supplied an innovative method of ozone/NO-ultrasonic treatment of soft tissues fibrosis in combination with Rexod® and clinically proved the acceleration of resorption for soft tissue fibrosis by application of this innovative method.
Abstract: Complications after radiotherapy rest an important problem of clinical oncology. Authors improved and technically supplied an innovative method of ozone/NO-ultrasonic treatment of soft tissues fibrosis in combination with Rexod®. Autors showed their experience and clinically proved the acceleration of resorption for soft tissues fibrosis by application of this innovative method.
References
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Book
30 Sep 1988
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors define definitions of diversity and apply them to the problem of measuring species diversity, choosing an index and interpreting diversity measures, and applying them to structural and structural diversity.
Abstract: Definitions of diversity. Measuring species diversity. Choosing an index and interpreting diversity measures. Sampling problems. Structural diversity. Applications of diversity measures. Summary.

10,957 citations


"Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..." refers methods in this paper

  • ...We determined the abundance and richness for each site, and two annual similarity indexes among sites: the Sorensen index (C S ) for qualitative, and the Morisita-Horn index (C mH ) for quantitative comparisons (Magurran, 1991)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
22 Nov 1985-Science
TL;DR: Resource availability in the environment is proposed as the major determinant of both the amount and type of plant defense, and theories on the evolution of plant defenses are compared with other theories.
Abstract: The degree of herbivory and the effectiveness of defense varies widely among plant species. Resource availability in the environment is proposed as the major determinant of both the amount and type of plant defense. When resource are limited, plants with inherently slow growth are favored over those with fast growth rates; slow rates in turn favor large investments in antiherbivore defenses. Leaf lifetime, also determined by resource availability, affects the relative advantages of defenses with different turnover rates. Relative limitation of different resources also constrains the types of defenses. The proposals are compared with other theories on the evolution of plant defenses.

3,601 citations


"Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..." refers background in this paper

  • ...According to Coley et al. (1985), plant species in environments with low resource availability (such as cerrado) have been selected to have a high investment in quantitative defenses including tannins and lignins, which reduce the digestibility of the plant tissues....

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  • ...…the importance of defensive compounds and nutritional quality in plant–herbivory interactions at the interspecific level (Feeny, 1975; Coley, 1983; Coley et al., 1985), we suggest that spatial variation in D. vinosum folivory among the sampled sites is not influenced by the plant traits that…...

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The results suggest a new proposition, the resource concentration hypothesis, which states that herbivores are more likely to find and remain on hosts that are growing in dense or nearly pure stands; that the most specialized species frequently attain higher relative densities in simple environments; and that biomass tends to become concentrated in a few species, causing a decrease in the diversity of herbsivores in pure stands.
Abstract: Collards were grown at Ithaca, New York, in two experimental habitats: pure stands and single rows that were bounded on each side by diverse, meadow vegetation. The arthropods associated with these plants were sampled on 20 dates over a 3—year period. The status of the herbivore species was measured by their rank in biomass in each sample. The two most prominent species, Phyllotreta cruciferae and Pieris rapae, maintained high status throughout the investigation, but another important species, Brevicoryne brassicae, was absent for an entire season. Pit feeders usually formed the most important herbivore guild. Nevertheless, the guild spectrum, which describes the functional structure of the fauna, varied widely in time and space. The size distributions of species and of individuals were both highly skewed toward the smaller sizes. Herbivore loads, the mean biomass of herbivores per 100 g of consumable foliage, were consistently higher in the pure stands. Moreover, herbivore loads varied significantly with season in each experimental habitat. Both the number of herbivore species and the diversity of the herbivore load were greater in the diverse habitat. Biomass was more heavily concentrated among the prominent herbivores in the pure stands; increased dominance, rather than differences in species richness, appeared to be the major cause for the lower herbivore diversity in this habitat. The diversity of predators and parasitoids was higher in the pure stands. Most of the abundant species found on collards shared a similar narrow range of hosts. As a result the species in this core group of herbivores and parasitoids were regularly associated with each other. Predators and the less abundant herbivores tended to be less specialized and served to link the collard association with the surrounding community. Plant—arthropod associations are representative of component communities, well—integrated systems that form portions of larger compound communities. This distinction facilitates the analysis of community structure. Microclimates and the effectiveness of "enemies" did not appear to differ sufficiently in the two experimental habitats to account for the observed differences in the herbivore load. The results suggest a new proposition, the resource concentration hypothesis, which states that herbivores are more likely to find and remain on hosts that are growing in dense or nearly pure stands; that the most specialized species frequently attain higher relative densities in simple environments; and that, as a result, biomass tends to become concentrated in a few species, causing a decrease in the diversity of herbivores in pure stands.

2,745 citations


"Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Secondly, as stated by the resourceconcentration hypothesis (Root, 1973), there is a higher probability of herbivores finding, remaining on, and consequently becoming more abundant on hosts growing at a high density or abundance....

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Book ChapterDOI
Paul Feeny1
TL;DR: A test of how far understanding of insect ecology has progressed will be the authors' ability to predict how patterns vary from one kind of community to another and how they will change when subjected to natural or human disturbance.
Abstract: A major objective of insect ecology is to explain observed patterns of interaction between plants and herbivorous insects. We would like to understand both how such patterns are maintained in ecological time and also how they have come about in evolutionary time. A test of how far such understanding has progressed will be our ability to predict how patterns vary from one kind of community to another and how they will change when subjected to natural or human disturbance.

2,374 citations


"Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..." refers background in this paper

  • ...Larger plants provide two types of benefits for herbivores: higher apparency (Feeny, 1976; Karban, 1993), which renders Braz....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Interspecific patterns of defense mechanisms are discussed in terms of current theories of plant apparency, and an alternative model for the evolution of plant defenses is presented.
Abstract: Rates of herbivory and defensive characteristics of young and mature leaves were measured for saplings of 46 canopy tree species in a lowland tropical rain forest (Barro Colorado Island, Panama). Grazing rates were determined in the field for sample periods in the early wet, late wet, and dry seasons. Leaf properties such as pubescence, toughness, water, protein, fiber, and phenolic contents explained over 70W% of the variation among plant species in the rates of herbivory on mature leaves. Leaf toughness was most highly correlated with levels of herbivory, followed by fiber content and nutritive value. Phenol content and phenol: protein ratios were not significantly correlated with damage. Mature leaves of gap-colonizing species were grazed six times more rapidly than leaves of shade- tolerant species. Gap-colonizers have less tough leaves, lower concentrations of fiber and phenolics, higher levels of nitrogen and water, shorter leaf lifetimes, and faster growth rates than do shade- tolerant species. Gap-colonizers did not escape discovery by herbivores to any greater extent than shade-tolerant species, as measured by the spatial distribution of plants or by the intraspecific dis- tribution of herbivore damage under natural or experimentally manipulated conditions. In 70W% of the species, young leaves suffered higher damage levels than mature leaves. Although young leaves are more nutritious and less tough and fibrous, they have two to three times the con- centrations of phenols. The temporal appearance of young leaves was not correlated with the distri- bution of herbivory among individuals of a species. Interspecific patterns of defense mechanisms are discussed in terms of current theories of plant apparency, and an alternative model for the evolution of plant defenses is presented.

1,523 citations


"Insect folivory in Didymopanax vino..." refers background in this paper

  • ...…emphasize the importance of defensive compounds and nutritional quality in plant–herbivory interactions at the interspecific level (Feeny, 1975; Coley, 1983; Coley et al., 1985), we suggest that spatial variation in D. vinosum folivory among the sampled sites is not influenced by the plant…...

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