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Types, evolution and significance of plant – animal interactions

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Abstract

Interactions between plants and animals are analyzed starting from the advantages gained by animals and proceeding to those gained exclusively by plants. These interactions are essentially of five types: 1. predation of plants by animals; 2. benevolence of plants towards certain animals to prevent or reduce predation; 3. predation by plants (carnivorous plants); 4. symbiosis and mutualism; 5. seduction and deception of animals by plants for dispersal of plant reproductive structures. All types of plants are preyed on by animals, though from as far back in evolution as algae, certain plant molecules reduce or prevent predation. In the most primitive land plants, other types of interactions beneficial for plants are encountered. More evolved land plants (angiosperms) show all facets of the five types of interaction, whereas in prokaryotic and eukaryotic algae there is only predation and in some cases countermeasures to avoid it. An evolutionary path leading from predation, the original condition, to seduction, deception and carnivory, is also postulated.

Keywords Plants, Animals, Predation, Benevolence, Symbiosis, Mutualism, Pollination, Seed dispersal

Subject codes: Animal Ecology, Plant Ecology, Evolutionary Biology

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università di Siena, via P.A. Mattioli 4, 53100, Siena, Italy, Tel.: 0039 0577 232863, Fax: 0039 0577 232860,  

    Ettore Pacini

  2. Dipartimento di Biologia, Unità di Botanica Generale e Sistematica, Università di Pisa, via, L. Ghini 5, 56126 Pisa, Tel.: 0039 050 2211310, Fax: 0039 950 2211309,  

    Lucia Viegi

  3. Dipartimento di Farmacologia “Giorgio Segre”, Università di Siena, Via delle Scotte 6, 53100 Siena, Italy, Tel.: 0039 0577 232226, Fax: 0039 0577 233102,  

    Gian Gabriele Franchi

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  1. Ettore Pacini
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  2. Lucia Viegi
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  3. Gian Gabriele Franchi
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Pacini, E., Viegi, L. & Franchi, G.G. Types, evolution and significance of plant – animal interactions. Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei 19, 75–101 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-008-0005-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12210-008-0005-9

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