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Changes in plant chemical defenses and nutritional quality as a function of ontogeny in Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae)

  • Plant-Animal interactions - Original Paper
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Abstract

Numerous empirical studies have examined ontogenetic trajectories in plant defenses but only a few have explored the potential mechanisms underlying those patterns. Furthermore, most documented ontogenetic trajectories in plant defenses have generally concentrated on aboveground tissues; thus, our knowledge regarding whole plant trends in plant defenses throughout development or potential allocation constraints between growth and defenses is limited. Here, we document changes in plant biomass, nutritional quality and chemical defenses for below- and aboveground tissues across seven age classes of Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae) to evaluate: (1) partial and whole plant ontogenetic trajectories in constitutive chemical defenses and nutritional quality, and (2) the role of resource allocation constraints, namely root:shoot (R:S) ratios, in explaining whole plant investment in chemical defenses over time. Overall investment in iridoid glycosides (IGs) significantly increased, while water and nitrogen concentrations in shoot tissues decreased with plant age. Significant variation in IG content between shoot and root tissues across development was observed: allocation of IGs into root tissues linearly increased from younger to older plants, while non-linear shifts in allocation of IGs during ontogeny were observed for shoot tissues. Finally, R:S ratios only weakly explained overall allocation of resources into defenses, with young stages showing a positive relationship, while older stages showed a negative relationship between R:S ratios and IG concentrations. Ontogenetic trajectories in plant quality and defenses within and among plant tissues can strongly influence insect herbivores’ performance and/or predation risk; thus, they are likely to play a significant role in mediating species interactions.

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Acknowledgments

We thank K. Barton, K. Boege, Y. Linhart, the Bowers lab, and three anonymous reviewers for valuable comments and suggestions on this manuscript. In addition, we gratefully acknowledge A. Hill, L. Mulder, and T. J. Lemieux for greenhouse and laboratory assistance; and N. Robinson and C. M. Judd for their assistance with data analyses. Funding for this project was provided by Beverly Sears Graduate Student Grant, the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado, and a National Science Foundation grant DEB 0909717.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and University of Colorado Museum, University of Colorado, Campus Box 334, Boulder, CO, 80309-0260, USA

    Carolina Quintero & M. Deane Bowers

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  1. Carolina Quintero
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  2. M. Deane Bowers
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Correspondence to Carolina Quintero.

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Communicated by Jacqui Shykoff.

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Quintero, C., Bowers, M.D. Changes in plant chemical defenses and nutritional quality as a function of ontogeny in Plantago lanceolata (Plantaginaceae). Oecologia 168, 471–481 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2114-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00442-011-2114-x

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