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Activated chemical defenses suppress herbivory on freshwater red algae

  • Plant-animal interactions - Original research
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Abstract

The rapid life cycles of freshwater algae are hypothesized to suppress selection for chemical defenses against herbivores, but this notion remains untested. Investigations of chemical defenses are rare for freshwater macrophytes and absent for freshwater red algae. We used crayfish to assess the palatability of five freshwater red algae relative to a palatable green alga and a chemically defended aquatic moss. We then assessed the roles of structural, nutritional, and chemical traits in reducing palatability. Both native and non-native crayfish preferred the green alga Cladophora glomerata to four of the five red algae. Batrachospermum helminthosum, Kumanoa holtonii, and Tuomeya americana employed activated chemical defenses that suppressed feeding by 30–60 % following damage to algal tissues. Paralemanea annulata was defended by its cartilaginous structure, while Boldia erythrosiphon was palatable. Activated defenses are thought to reduce ecological costs by expressing potent defenses only when actually needed; thus, activation might be favored in freshwater red algae whose short-lived gametophytes must grow and reproduce rapidly over a brief growing season. The frequency of activated chemical defenses found here (three of five species) is 3–20× higher than for surveys of marine algae or aquatic vascular plants. If typical for freshwater red algae, this suggests that (1) their chemical defenses may go undetected if chemical activation is not considered and (2) herbivory has been an important selective force in the evolution of freshwater Rhodophyta. Investigations of defenses in freshwater rhodophytes contribute to among-system comparisons and provide insights into the generality of plant–herbivore interactions and their evolution.

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Acknowledgments

Funding was provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation (Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship Program; DGE 0114400) and the Teasley endowment to Georgia Tech. C. Dell, D. Kemp, M. Heckman, M. Teasdale, and S. Engle aided in laboratory and field efforts. M. Vis and R. Holton provided information on red algal collection sites and helped with algal identification.

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  1. School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, 30332, USA

    Keri M. Goodman & Mark E. Hay

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  1. Keri M. Goodman
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Correspondence to Mark E. Hay.

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Communicated by Elena Litchman.

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Goodman, K.M., Hay, M.E. Activated chemical defenses suppress herbivory on freshwater red algae. Oecologia 171, 921–933 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-012-2455-0

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