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Pioltelli E, Guzzetti L, Larbi MO, Celano R, Piccinelli AL, Galimberti A, Biella P, Labra M. Land use influences the nutrient concentration and composition of pollen and nectar rewards of wildflowers in human-dominated landscapes. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2024; 908:168130. [PMID: 37907100 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.168130] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/24/2023] [Revised: 10/12/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/02/2023]
Abstract
Plant biodiversity is crucial to satisfy the trophic needs of pollinators, mainly through nectar and pollen rewards. However, a few studies have been directed to ascertain the intraspecific variation of chemical features and the nutritional value of nectar and pollen floral rewards in relation to the alteration of landscapes due to human activities. In this study, by using an existing scenario of land use gradients as an open air laboratory, we tested the variation in pollen and nectar nutrient profiles along gradients of urbanization and agriculture intensity, by focusing on sugar, aminoacids of nectar and phytochemicals of pollen from local wild plants. We also highlighted bioactive compounds from plants primary and secondary metabolism due to their importance for insect wellbeing and pollinator health. We surveyed 7 different meadow species foraged by pollinators and common in the main land uses studied. The results indicated that significant variations of nutritional components occur in relation to different land uses, and specifically that the agricultural intensification decreases the sugars and increases the antioxidant content of flower rewards, while the urbanization is positively associated with the total flavonoid content in pollen. These effects are more evident in some species than in others, such as Lotus corniculatus L. (Fabaceae) and Malva sylvestris L. (Malvaceae), as shown by the untargeted metabolomic investigation. This study is crucial for understanding the nutritional landscape quality for pollinators in association to different land uses and sets a base for landscape management and planning of pollinator-friendly strategies by improving the quality of plant rewards to provide benefits to pollinator health in various environmental contexts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emiliano Pioltelli
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milano, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy
| | - Lorenzo Guzzetti
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milano, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy
| | - Malika Ouled Larbi
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milano, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy
| | - Rita Celano
- NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy; Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Salerno, Italy
| | - Anna Lisa Piccinelli
- NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy; Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, Via Giovanni Paolo II 132, 84084, Salerno, Italy
| | - Andrea Galimberti
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milano, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy
| | - Paolo Biella
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milano, Italy.
| | - Massimo Labra
- Department of Biotechnology and Biosciences, University of Milano-Bicocca, Piazza della Scienza 2, 20126, Milano, Italy; NBFC, National Biodiversity Future Center, Palermo, 90133, Italy
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Sandoval-Castellanos E, Núñez-Farfán J. The Joint Evolution of Herbivory Defense and Mating System in Plants: A Simulation Approach. PLANTS (BASEL, SWITZERLAND) 2023; 12:555. [PMID: 36771638 PMCID: PMC9919119 DOI: 10.3390/plants12030555] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/06/2022] [Revised: 01/06/2023] [Accepted: 01/20/2023] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Agricultural losses brought about by insect herbivores can be reduced by understanding the strategies that plants use against insect herbivores. The two main strategies that plants use against herbivory are resistance and tolerance. They are, however, predicted to be mutually exclusive, yet numerous populations have them both (hence a mixed defense strategy). This has been explained, among other alternatives, by the non-linear behavior of the costs and benefits of resistance and tolerance and their interaction with plants' mating system. Here, we studied how non-linearity and mating system affect the evolutionary stability of mixed defense strategies by means of agent-based model simulations. The simulations work on a novel model that was built upon previous ones. It incorporates resistance and tolerance costs and benefits, inbreeding depression, and a continuously scalable non-linearity. The factors that promoted the evolutionary stability of mixed defense strategies include a multiplicative allocation of costs and benefits of resistance and tolerance, a concave non-linearity, non-heritable selfing, and high tolerance costs. We also found new mechanisms, enabled by the mating system, that are worth considering for empirical studies. One was a double trade-off between resistance and tolerance, predicted as a consequence of costs duplication and the inducibility of tolerance, and the other was named the resistance-cost-of-selfing, a term coined by us, and was derived from the duplication of costs that homozygous individuals conveyed when a single resistance allele provided full protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edson Sandoval-Castellanos
- Laboratorio de Genética Ecológica y Evolución, Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
- Population Genomics Group, Department of Veterinary Sciences, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, 82152 Munich, Germany
| | - Juan Núñez-Farfán
- Laboratorio de Genética Ecológica y Evolución, Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City 04510, Mexico
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Li H, Wyckhuys KAG, Wu K. Hoverflies provide pollination and biological pest control in greenhouse-grown horticultural crops. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2023; 14:1118388. [PMID: 37123852 PMCID: PMC10130659 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2023.1118388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 03/21/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Beneficial insects provide pollination and biological control in natural and man-made settings. Those ecosystem services (ES) are especially important for high-value fruits and vegetables, including those grown under greenhouse conditions. The hoverfly Eupeodes corollae (Diptera: Syrphidae) delivers both ES, given that its larvae prey upon aphid pests and its adults pollinate crops. In this study, we investigated this dual role of E. corollae in three insect-pollinated and aphid-affected horticultural crops i.e., tomato, melon and strawberry within greenhouses in Hebei province (China). Augmentative releases of E. corollae increased fruit set and fruit weight of all three crops, and affected population dynamics of the cotton aphid Aphis gossypii (Hemiptera: Aphididae). On melon and strawberry, E. corollae suppressed A. gossypii populations by 54-99% and 50-70% respectively. In tomato, weekly releases of 240 E. corollae individuals/100 m2led to 95% fruit set. Meanwhile, releases of 160 hoverfly individuals per 100 m2led to 100% fruit set in melon. Also, at hoverfly/aphid release rates of 1:500 in spring and 1:150 in autumn, aphid populations were reduced by more than 95% on melon. Lastly, on strawberry, optimum levels of pollination and aphid biological control were attained at E. corollae release rates of 640 individuals/100 m2. Overall, our work shows how augmentative releases of laboratory-reared hoverflies E. corollae can enhance yields of multiple horticultural crops while securing effective, non-chemical control of resident aphid pests.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hui Li
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
- Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Guangzhou, China
| | - Kris A. G. Wyckhuys
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Kongming Wu
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing, China
- *Correspondence: Kongming Wu,
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Cardel YJ, Koptur S. Locations of seed abortion in response to defoliation differ with pollen source in a native perennial legume herb. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF BOTANY 2022; 109:1730-1740. [PMID: 36088615 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2022] [Revised: 06/10/2022] [Accepted: 06/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE In many flowering plants, flowers contain more ovules than fruits have seeds. What determines which ovules become seeds? When photosynthates are limited, as may happen when plants lose leaf area to herbivory, fewer fertilized ovules become seeds. METHODS Greenhouse-grown ramets of distinct individuals of a perennial herbaceous legume were manually defoliated to various levels determined in the field, then self- or cross-pollinated. For each seed produced, we recorded its position in the fruit and its mass. From a subset of seeds from different treatments and positions in the fruits, we grew seedlings and measured their dry mass. RESULTS Ovules were aborted more frequently in fruits from flowers that were self-pollinated and from those on plants with higher levels of defoliation. Ovules in the basal portion of the fruits were more likely to be aborted than those at the stigmatic end; this pattern was most pronounced for fruits after self-pollination with high levels of defoliation. Total number of seeds produced and seed mass per pod were greatest in cross-pollinated fruits after no or low levels of defoliation. Mean individual seed mass was greater for fruits with fewer seeds, indicating a trade-off between seed number and seed mass. Seedling dry mass (a measure of vigor) was greatest for seeds in the middle positions of fruit produced by cross-pollination after severe herbivory; no positional differences were seen for seeds from self-pollinated fruits. CONCLUSIONS Observed locations of seed abortion may have been selected not only by defoliation, but in part by propensity for dispersal, while positional differences in seedling vigor may be related to seed size and differential maternal allocation based on pollination treatment and leaf area lost.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuria J Cardel
- Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of the Environment, International Center for Tropical Botany, Florida International University, University Park, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
| | - Suzanne Koptur
- Department of Biological Sciences, Institute of the Environment, International Center for Tropical Botany, Florida International University, University Park, Miami, FL, 33199, USA
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Egan PA, Stevenson PC, Stout JC. Pollinator selection against toxic nectar as a key facilitator of a plant invasion. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20210168. [PMID: 35491597 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2021.0168] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant compounds associated with herbivore defence occur widely in floral nectar and can impact pollinator health. We showed previously that Rhododendron ponticum nectar contains grayanotoxin I (GTX I) at concentrations that are lethal or sublethal to honeybees and a solitary bee in the plant's non-native range in Ireland. Here we further examined this conflict and tested the hypotheses that nectar GTX I is subject to negative pollinator-mediated selection in the non-native range, but that phenotypic linkage between GTX I levels in nectar and leaves acts as a constraint on independent evolution. We found that nectar GTX I experienced negative directional selection in the non-native range, in contrast to the native Iberian range, and that the magnitude and frequency of pollinator limitation indicated that selection was pollinator-mediated. Surprisingly, nectar GTX I levels were decoupled from those of leaves in the non-native range, which may have assisted post-invasion evolution of nectar without compromising the anti-herbivore function of GTX I (here demonstrated in bioassays with an ecologically relevant herbivore). Our study emphasizes the centrality of pollinator health as a concept linked to the invasion process, and how post-invasion evolution can be targeted toward minimizing lethal or sub-lethal effects on pollinators. This article is part of the theme issue 'Natural processes influencing pollinator health: from chemistry to landscapes'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul A Egan
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 102, Alnarp 23053, Sweden
| | - Philip C Stevenson
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kew Green, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE, UK.,Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK
| | - Jane C Stout
- Department of Botany, School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
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McPeek SJ, Bronstein JL, McPeek MA. Eco-evolutionary feedbacks among pollinators, herbivores, and their plant resources. Evolution 2022; 76:1287-1300. [PMID: 35420697 PMCID: PMC9321553 DOI: 10.1111/evo.14492] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/06/2022] [Revised: 03/19/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2022] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Eco-evolutionary feedbacks among multiple species occur when one species affects another species' evolution via its effects on the abundance and traits of a shared partner species. What happens if those two species enact opposing effects on their shared partner's population growth? Furthermore, what if those two kinds of interactions involve separate traits? For example, many plants produce distinct suites of traits that attract pollinators (mutualists) and deter herbivores (antagonists). Here, we develop a model to explore how pollinators and herbivores may influence each other's interactions with a shared plant species via evolutionary effects on the plant's nectar and toxin traits. The model results predict that herbivores indirectly select for the evolution of increased nectar production by suppressing plant population growth. The model also predicts that pollinators indirectly select for the evolution of increased toxin production by plants and increased counterdefenses by herbivores via their positive effects on plant population growth. Unless toxins directly affect pollinator foraging, plants always evolve increases in attraction and defense traits when they interact with both kinds of foragers. This work highlights the value of incorporating ecological dynamics to understand the entangled evolution of mutualisms and antagonisms in natural communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sarah J. McPeek
- Department of BiologyUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesvilleVA22904USA
| | - Judith L. Bronstein
- Department of Ecology & Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of ArizonaTucsonAZ85721USA
| | - Mark A. McPeek
- Department of Biological SciencesDartmouth CollegeHanoverNH03755USA
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De-la-Cruz IM, Batsleer F, Bonte D, Diller C, Hytönen T, Muola A, Osorio S, Posé D, Vandegehuchte ML, Stenberg JA. Evolutionary Ecology of Plant-Arthropod Interactions in Light of the "Omics" Sciences: A Broad Guide. FRONTIERS IN PLANT SCIENCE 2022; 13:808427. [PMID: 35548276 PMCID: PMC9084618 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2022.808427] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2021] [Accepted: 04/01/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Aboveground plant-arthropod interactions are typically complex, involving herbivores, predators, pollinators, and various other guilds that can strongly affect plant fitness, directly or indirectly, and individually, synergistically, or antagonistically. However, little is known about how ongoing natural selection by these interacting guilds shapes the evolution of plants, i.e., how they affect the differential survival and reproduction of genotypes due to differences in phenotypes in an environment. Recent technological advances, including next-generation sequencing, metabolomics, and gene-editing technologies along with traditional experimental approaches (e.g., quantitative genetics experiments), have enabled far more comprehensive exploration of the genes and traits involved in complex ecological interactions. Connecting different levels of biological organization (genes to communities) will enhance the understanding of evolutionary interactions in complex communities, but this requires a multidisciplinary approach. Here, we review traditional and modern methods and concepts, then highlight future avenues for studying the evolution of plant-arthropod interactions (e.g., plant-herbivore-pollinator interactions). Besides promoting a fundamental understanding of plant-associated arthropod communities' genetic background and evolution, such knowledge can also help address many current global environmental challenges.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan M. De-la-Cruz
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Femke Batsleer
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Dries Bonte
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Carolina Diller
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
| | - Timo Hytönen
- Department of Agricultural Sciences, Viikki Plant Science Centre, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- NIAB EMR, West Malling, United Kingdom
| | - Anne Muola
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
- Biodiversity Unit, University of Turku, Finland
| | - Sonia Osorio
- Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora”, Universidad de Málaga-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Campus de Teatinos, Málaga, Spain
| | - David Posé
- Departamento de Biología Molecular y Bioquímica, Instituto de Hortofruticultura Subtropical y Mediterránea “La Mayora”, Universidad de Málaga-Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Campus de Teatinos, Málaga, Spain
| | - Martijn L. Vandegehuchte
- Terrestrial Ecology Unit, Department of Biology, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium
- Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway
| | - Johan A. Stenberg
- Department of Plant Protection Biology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, Sweden
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