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Anest A, Bouchenak-Khelladi Y, Charles-Dominique T, Forest F, Caraglio Y, Hempson GP, Maurin O, Tomlinson KW. Blocking then stinging as a case of two-step evolution of defensive cage architectures in herbivore-driven ecosystems. NATURE PLANTS 2024; 10:587-597. [PMID: 38438539 DOI: 10.1038/s41477-024-01649-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 03/06/2024]
Abstract
Dense branching and spines are common features of plant species in ecosystems with high mammalian herbivory pressure. While dense branching and spines can inhibit herbivory independently, when combined, they form a powerful defensive cage architecture. However, how cage architecture evolved under mammalian pressure has remained unexplored. Here we show how dense branching and spines emerged during the age of mammalian radiation in the Combretaceae family and diversified in herbivore-driven ecosystems in the tropics. Phylogenetic comparative methods revealed that modern plant architectural strategies defending against large mammals evolved via a stepwise process. First, dense branching emerged under intermediate herbivory pressure, followed by the acquisition of spines that supported higher speciation rates under high herbivory pressure. Our study highlights the adaptive value of dense branching as part of a herbivore defence strategy and identifies large mammal herbivory as a major selective force shaping the whole plant architecture of woody plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Artémis Anest
- Center for Integrative Conservation and Yunnan Key Laboratory for Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Asian Elephants, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, China.
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
- AMAP, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France.
| | - Yanis Bouchenak-Khelladi
- Agroécologie, Univ. Bourgogne, Univ. Bourgogne Franche-Comté, INRAE, Institut Agro, Dijon, France
| | - Tristan Charles-Dominique
- AMAP, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Sorbonne University, Paris, France
| | | | - Yves Caraglio
- AMAP, Univ Montpellier, CIRAD, CNRS, INRAE, IRD, Montpellier, France
| | - Gareth P Hempson
- Ecology and Environmental Change, School of Biodiversity, One Health and Veterinary Medicine, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, UK
| | | | - Kyle W Tomlinson
- Center for Integrative Conservation and Yunnan Key Laboratory for Conservation of Tropical Rainforests and Asian Elephants, Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, China.
- Center of Conservation Biology, Core Botanical Gardens, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Menglun, Mengla, China.
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Klimešová J, Herben T. Belowground morphology as a clue for plant response to disturbance and productivity in a temperate flora. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2024; 242:61-76. [PMID: 38358032 DOI: 10.1111/nph.19584] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2023] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 02/16/2024]
Abstract
Plants possess a large variety of nonacquisitive belowground organs, such as rhizomes, tubers, bulbs, and coarse roots. These organs determine a whole set of functions that are decisive in coping with climate, productivity, disturbance, and biotic interactions, and have been hypothesized to affect plant distribution along environmental gradients. We assembled data on belowground organ morphology for 1712 species from Central Europe and tested these hypotheses by quantifying relationships between belowground morphologies and species optima along ecological gradients related to productivity and disturbance. Furthermore, we linked these data with species co-occurrence in 30 115 vegetation plots from the Czech Republic to determine relationships between belowground organ diversity and these gradients. The strongest gradients determining belowground organ distribution were disturbance severity and frequency, light, and moisture. Nonclonal perennials and annuals occupy much smaller parts of the total environmental space than major types of clonal plants. Forest habitats had the highest diversity of co-occurring belowground morphologies; in other habitats, the diversity of belowground morphologies was generally lower than the random expectation. Our work shows that nonacquisitive belowground organs may be partly responsible for plant environmental niches. This adds a new dimension to the plant trait spectrum, currently based on acquisitive traits (leaves and fine roots) only.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jitka Klimešová
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, CZ-379 82, Czech Republic
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Benátská 2, Praha 2, CZ-128 01, Czech Republic
| | - Tomáš Herben
- Department of Botany, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Benátská 2, Praha 2, CZ-128 01, Czech Republic
- Institute of Botany, Czech Academy of Sciences, Průhonice, CZ-252 43, Czech Republic
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Zhang Y, Cao J, Lu M, Kardol P, Wang J, Fan G, Kong D. The origin of bi-dimensionality in plant root traits. Trends Ecol Evol 2024; 39:78-88. [PMID: 37777374 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2023.09.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/01/2023] [Indexed: 10/02/2023]
Abstract
Plant roots show extraordinary diversity in form and function in heterogeneous environments. Mounting evidence has shown global bi-dimensionality in root traits, the root economics spectrum (RES), and an orthogonal dimension describing mycorrhizal collaboration; however, the origin of the bi-dimensionality remains unresolved. Here, we propose that bi-dimensionality arises from the cylindrical geometry of roots, allometry between root cortex and stele, and independence between root cell wall thickness and cell number. Root geometry and mycorrhizal collaboration may both underlie the bi-dimensionality. Further, we emphasize why plant roots should be cylindrical rather than flat. Finally, we highlight the need to integrate organ-, cellular-, and molecular-level processes driving the bi-dimensionality in plant roots to fully understand plant diversity and functions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Zhang
- College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
| | - Jingjing Cao
- College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
| | | | - Paul Kardol
- Department of Forest Mycology and Plant Pathology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, 75007, Sweden; Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Umeå, 90183, Sweden
| | - Junjian Wang
- Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Soil and Groundwater Pollution Control, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Southern University of Science and Technology, Shenzhen, Guangdong 518055, China
| | - Guoqiang Fan
- College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China
| | - Deliang Kong
- College of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou 450002, China.
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Tsakalos JL, Ottaviani G, Chelli S, Rea A, Elder S, Dobrowolski MP, Mucina L. Plant clonality in a soil-impoverished open ecosystem: insights from southwest Australian shrublands. ANNALS OF BOTANY 2022; 130:981-990. [PMID: 36282998 PMCID: PMC9851296 DOI: 10.1093/aob/mcac131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/03/2022] [Accepted: 10/22/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIMS Clonality is a key life-history strategy promoting on-spot persistence, space occupancy, resprouting after disturbance, and resource storage, sharing and foraging. These functions provided by clonality can be advantageous under different environmental conditions, including resource-paucity and fire-proneness, which define most mediterranean-type open ecosystems, such as southwest Australian shrublands. Studying clonality-environment links in underexplored mediterranean shrublands could therefore deepen our understanding of the role played by this essential strategy in open ecosystems globally. METHODS We created a new dataset including 463 species, six traits related to clonal growth organs (CGOs; lignotubers, herbaceous and woody rhizomes, stolons, tubers, stem fragments), and edaphic predictors of soil water availability, nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from 138 plots. Within two shrubland communities, we explored multivariate clonal patterns and how the diversity of CGOs, and abundance-weighted and unweighted proportions .of clonality in plots changed along with the edaphic gradients. KEY RESULTS We found clonality in 65 % of species; the most frequent were those with lignotubers (28 %) and herbaceous rhizomes (26 %). In multivariate space, plots clustered into two groups, one distinguished by sandy plots and plants with CGOs, the other by clayey plots and non-clonal species. CGO diversity did not vary along the edaphic gradients (only marginally with water availability). The abundance-weighted proportion of clonal species increased with N and decreased with P and water availability, yet these results were CGO-specific. We revealed almost no relationships for unweighted clonality. CONCLUSIONS Clonality is more widespread in shrublands than previously thought, and distinct plant communities are distinguished by specific suites (or lack) of CGOs. We show that weighting belowground traits by aboveground abundance affects the results, with implications for trait-based ecologists using abundance-weighting. We suggest unweighted approaches for belowground organs in open ecosystems until belowground abundance is quantifiable.
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Affiliation(s)
- James L Tsakalos
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, Plant Diversity and Ecosystems Management Unit, University of Camerino, Camerino, MC, Italy
- Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Gianluigi Ottaviani
- Department of Botany and Zoology, Faculty of Science, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic
- Institute of Botany, The Czech Academy of Sciences, Třeboň, Czech Republic
| | - Stefano Chelli
- School of Biosciences and Veterinary Medicine, Plant Diversity and Ecosystems Management Unit, University of Camerino, Camerino, MC, Italy
| | - Alethea Rea
- Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Scott Elder
- Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Mark P Dobrowolski
- Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Perth, WA, Australia
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
- Iluka Resources Ltd, Perth, WA, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Ladislav Mucina
- Harry Butler Institute, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Perth, WA, Australia
- Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Centre for Geographic Analysis, Stellenbosch University, Matieland, Stellenbosch, South Africa
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