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Allocating nitrogen away from a herbivore: a novel compensatory response to root herbivory

  • Plant Animal Interactions
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Abstract

Centaurea maculosa, an invasive North American plant species, shows a high degree of tolerance to the root-boring biocontrol herbivore, Agapeta zoegana. For example, infested individuals of C. maculosa often exhibit more rigorous growth and reproduction compared with their non-infested counterparts. Compensatory responses to aboveground herbivores often involve increases in leaf area and/or photosynthetic capacity, but considerably less is known about root system compensatory responses to belowground herbivory. We used a 15N labeling approach to evaluate whether compensatory adjustments in N acquisition via changes in root morphology and/or physiological uptake capacity could explain the ability of C. maculosa to tolerate root herbivory. Root herbivory reduced whole plant N uptake by more than 30% and root uptake capacity by about 50%. Despite a marked reduction in N procurement, herbivory did not affect total biomass or shoot N status. Infested plants maintained shoot N status by shifting more of the acquired N from the root to the shoot. To our knowledge, shifting N allocation away from a root herbivore has not been reported and provides a plausible mechanism for the host plant to overcome an otherwise devastating effect of a root herbivore-induced N deficit.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the staff of the Plant Growth Facility of the University of Illinois at Chicago, Larry Sykora and James Scios for help in the design and upkeep of the experiments. We also thank Bill Good for advice and Christian Richey for assisting with the A. zoegana collection and rearing. This research was funded by NSF award IOB-0213066, DEB-0131748, NSF International Programs, USDA-NRI, USDA-IPM, the Civilian Research and Development Foundation, DoD SERDP, and the Aldo Leopold Wilderness Institute. The experiments comply with the current laws of the country in which they were performed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, USA

    Beth A. Newingham & Ragan M. Callaway

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL, 60607, USA

    Hormoz BassiriRad

  3. School of Life Sciences, University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, 89154, USA

    Beth A. Newingham

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  1. Beth A. Newingham
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  2. Ragan M. Callaway
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  3. Hormoz BassiriRad
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Correspondence to Beth A. Newingham.

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Communicated by Carlos Ballaré.

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Newingham, B.A., Callaway, R.M. & BassiriRad, H. Allocating nitrogen away from a herbivore: a novel compensatory response to root herbivory. Oecologia 153, 913–920 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-007-0791-2

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