Data/hora: 18/06/2024 05:50:26

Provedor de dados: | 39
País: | Brazil
Título: | Plant architecture influences gall abundance in a tropical montane plant species
Autores: | Boaventura,Maria Gabriela; Pereira,Cássio Cardoso; Cornelissen,Tatiana.
Data: | 2018-12-01
Ano: | 2018
Palavras-chave: | Elevation gradient; Galls; Insects; Plant architecture hypothesis; Plant quality.
Resumo: | ABSTRACT Sessile and host-specific herbivores, such as gall-inducing insects, are usually patchily distributed within the populations of their host plants, and it has been suggested that both inter- and intra-plant variation affect gall abundance, distribution and survivorship. Variation in plant traits, such as size and architecture, has been previously demonstrated as a determinant of gall distribution. We examined the influence of architectural complexity of the tropical plant Galianthe brasiliensis (Rubiaceae) on the abundance of the stem-galler Lopesia sp. (Diptera, Cecidomyiidae) along an elevation gradient where both insect and plant were distributed. A total of 120 plants were sampled along the gradient and more than 580 galls were counted, while plant architectural complexity was determined by a combination of height and branch ramification. Increased elevation did not influence plant complexity nor gall abundance (both P&gt;0.05), but plant architectural complexity explained more than 60% of the variation in gall abundance along the gradient (R2=0.62, P&lt;0.001). We suggest that the greater availability of meristematic tissues in more architecturally complex plants explains the results found, as this is a key resource for gall occurrence and establishment.
Tipo: | Info:eu-repo/semantics/other
Idioma: | Inglês
Identificador: | http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-33062018000400670
Editor: | Sociedade Botânica do Brasil
Relação: | 10.1590/0102-33062018abb0038
Formato: | text/html
Fonte: | Acta Botanica Brasilica  v.32 n.4 2018
Fonte: | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess