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Pathogen frequency in an age-structured population of Plantago lanceolata

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Abstract

Life-history traits can play important roles in determining the course of ecological species interactions. We explored the consequences of host age on a host-pathogen interaction by quantifying pathogen frequency in an age-structured host population. Our project was motivated by an interest in whether the demographic structure of a host population has consequences for species interactions. In 2 successive years, we planted large cohorts of the perennial herb Plantago lanceolata in its natural environment and observed infection by Fusarium moniliforme, a non-lethal floral fungal pathogen, over 3 years. We documented substantial variation of pathogen frequency across years and between cohorts. Logistic regression revealed that pathogen frequency increased with the number of inflorescences produced and with evidence of prior pathogen presence, whereas it decreased with increasing plant longevity. In addition, interannual variation and an age-year interaction contributed to the observed pathogen frequencies. There was a significant positive effect of age on pathogen frequency overall, but this was not consistent over all ages. Pathogen frequency was higher in 2-year-old plants than in 1-year-olds, suggesting that age-structure can influence the host-pathogen interaction. This pattern did not continue into 3-year-old plants. A possible explanation for this is that selective mortality allows only generally robust plants, and consequently the most resistant plants, to survive to the oldest ages.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciate assistance in the field and lab from Anne Pringle, Leonie Moyle, Elizabeth Ostrowski, Candan Soykan, Andrew Wozniak, Jeff Mathews, Liz Cundari, and Lola Fatoyinbo. Mark Conaway and the UVa Categorical Data Discussion Group provided helpful advice about logistic regression. Doug Taylor, Janis Antonovics, and two anonymous reviewers provided constructive comments on an earlier version of this paper. Funding for this work was provided by NIH grant PO1 AG08761 to D. A. R. and NSF grant DEB-94–15541 to Duke University.

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  1. Jeffry L. Dudycha

    Present address: Department of Biology, Jordan Hall, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Gilmer Hall, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904-4328, USA

    Jeffry L. Dudycha & Deborah A. Roach

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  1. Jeffry L. Dudycha
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  2. Deborah A. Roach
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Correspondence to Jeffry L. Dudycha.

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Dudycha, J.L., Roach, D.A. Pathogen frequency in an age-structured population of Plantago lanceolata . Oecologia 136, 141–147 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1246-z

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