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Herbivores and variation in the composition of specific phenolics of boreal coniferous trees: a search for patterns

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Abstract

Coniferous trees of different species, or of the same species growing at different locations, vary in the extent to which they are attacked by various herbivores and pathogens. Plant secondary metabolites might be a key to understanding some of this variation. At the site level, we investigated if there was an intra- or interspecies pattern for individual compounds (or for groups of compounds) and their relationship to indices of plant nitrogen and plant productivity. For example, do plants exhibit similar covariance in defence compounds when evaluated across a number of sites varying in productivity? Here, we concentrated on the phenolic profile of Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Juniperus communis and Pinus contorta. Our results indicate striking differences in secondary chemistry profiles of the twigs including needles of the trees and in the inter-relationships amongst individual compounds and groups of compounds. Flavonols occurred in high variety in P. sylvestris and were highly correlated with each other, differing from P. contorta. But the results of the factor analyses indicate an underlying pattern for flavonols of the coumaroyl type for P. contorta. In contrast, the compounds of the other tree species showed a low degree of inter-correlation. Co-occurring phenolics of different tree species were not correlated. Overall, our analysis of site indices indicated that plant productivity was not a useful predictor for the concentration of specific phenolics. The relationship amongst plant nitrogen and specific phenolics might be the result of two defence strategies (one related and the other not related to nitrogen content). This might enable the plant to shift its defences against attacks with a high degree of flexibility.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Outi Nousiainen, Irene Tomaschewski, Nils Kuhn and Fredrik Stenbacka for technical support and support in the field. Our work was supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and the Graduiertenförderung, the University Foundation of Hamburg University, the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency and the Academy of Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Ecology and Conservation, University of Hamburg, Martin-Luther-King Platz 3, 20146, Hamburg, Germany

    Caroline Stolter

  2. Department of Wildlife, Fish, and Environmental Studies, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, 90183, Umeå, Sweden

    John P. Ball

  3. Section of Biodiversity, Department of Biology, University of Turku, 20014, Turku, Finland

    Pekka Niemelä

  4. Department of Biology, University of Joensuu, P.O. Box 111, 80101, Joensuu, Finland

    Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto

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  1. Caroline Stolter
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  2. John P. Ball
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  4. Riitta Julkunen-Tiitto
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Correspondence to Caroline Stolter.

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Stolter, C., Ball, J.P., Niemelä, P. et al. Herbivores and variation in the composition of specific phenolics of boreal coniferous trees: a search for patterns. Chemoecology 20, 229–242 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00049-010-0053-3

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