Effects of leaf traits on herbivory across 27 woody plants in the subtropical forest: testing the growth-defense trade-off hypothesis

doi:10.17521/cjpe.2023.0290

Abstract

Abstract:

Aims Differences in herbivory among plant species can greatly affect the functioning of forest ecosystems. However, little is known about the main drivers causing interspecific differences in herbivore damage among tree species. The growth-defence trade-off hypothesis posits that the intrinsic growth rate of plant species governs resource allocation between defense and growth, thereby shaping interspecific variation in herbivory. However, the validity of this hypothesis is extensively debated, especially in highly species-rich subtropical forests.

Methods We quantified leaf herbivore damage in 27 native tree species in a tree species diversity experiment conducted in subtropical China. We measured 12 leaf traits associated with insect palatability and relative growth rates of 27 tree species. Using a combination of phylogenetic multivariate analyses, we assessed trade-offs between leaf traits and the relative effect of these traits on leaf herbivore damage.

Important findings We found 1) neither phylogenetic principal component analysis nor hierarchical cluster analysis supported the idea that species displayed one-dimensional trade-off; 2) Conventional strategies, such as content of condensed tannins, are not strongly involved as a defence against herbivores; 3) No significant trade-off between plant intrinsic growth rate and chemical defence traits for the 27 studied tree species. Our results do not support arguments for growth-defense trade-off hypothesis. Rather, plants exhibit a range of combinations of leaf traits. We suggest this lack of a one-dimensional trade-off may be adaptive, resulting from selective pressure to adopt a different combination of defences to coexisting species.

Key words: plant defense, ecosystem function, tannin content, plant-insect interactions, phylogenetic principal component, trade-off strategies

WANG Zhen-Yu, HUANG Zhi-Qun. Effects of leaf traits on herbivory across 27 woody plants in the subtropical forest: testing the growth-defense trade-off hypothesis[J]. Chin J Plant Ecol, 2024, 48(11): 1501-1509.

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URL: https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/10.17521/cjpe.2023.0290

https://www.plant-ecology.com/EN/Y2024/V48/I11/1501

Figures/Tables 6

Fig. 1 Phylogenetic tree and leaf damage (%) on young, fully expanded leaves of 27 tree species in subtropical forests (mean ± SD). Number of repetitions in parentheses.

Fig. 2 Biplot of the factor loadings for traits on the first two axes of the phylogenetic principal component analysis (PPCA, A) and biplot of species coordinates arrayed on the first two axes of the phylogenetic principal component analysis (B). Cellulose, cellulose content; C:N, carbon:nitrogen; LA, leaf area; LC, leaf carbon content; LDMC, leaf dry matter content; Lignin, lignin content; LN, leaf nitrogen content; LP, leaf phosphorus content; LT, leaf thickness; Phenolics, soluble phenolics content; SLA, specific leaf area; Tannin, tannin content.

Table 1 Coefficient of univariate phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) models for trait pairs of 27 woody species in subtropical forests

性状 Trait	LA	LP	LT	LC	LN	LDMC	SLA	Tannin	Phenolics	Cellulose	Lignin
LP	-0.93^***
LT	0.79^***	-0.56^***
LC	1.13^**	-1.20^***	1.20^***
LN	0.19	0.77	0.21	-0.39
LDMC	0.32	-1.08^**	0.89	0.37	-0.35^*
SLA	-0.85^***	0.89^***	-1.24^***	-0.44^***	0.14	-0.36^***
Tannin	-0.59^***	0.49^***	-0.72^***	-0.22^***	0.00	-0.12^*	0.42^***
Phenolics	-0.72^**	0.94^***	-1.09^***	-0.56^***	0.01	-0.30^*	0.81^***	1.57^***
Cellulose	-0.68^**	0.27	-0.30	-0.28	0.01	0.21	-0.11	0.24	-0.19
Lignin	-1.20^***	0.79^***	-1.48^***	-0.20	-0.05	-0.20	0.77^***	2.01^***	0.38	0.11
C:N	0.24	-1.07^**	0.25	0.68^*	-0.90^***	0.51^*	-0.91^*	-0.57	-0.31	-0.18	0.04

Table 2 Factor loadings of the first four components of phylogenetic principal component analysis (PPCA) on traits of 27 woody species in subtropical forests

	PPCA 1	PPCA 2	PPCA 3	PPCA 4
叶面积 Leaf area	0.90	-0.38	-0.01	-0.02
叶磷含量 Leaf phosphorus content	-0.90	-0.11	0.36	0.00
叶厚度 Leaf thickness	0.96	-0.08	0.15	-0.01
叶碳含量 Leaf carbon content	0.67	0.00	-0.60	-0.30
叶氮含量 Leaf nitrogen content	-0.06	-0.32	0.67	-0.59
碳氮比 Carbon:nitrogen	0.21	0.30	-0.75	0.47
叶干物质含量 Leaf dry matter content	0.43	0.66	-0.16	0.31
比叶面积 Specific leaf area	-0.85	-0.38	0.10	-0.18
单宁含量 Tannin content	-0.98	-0.05	-0.10	0.00
可溶性酚含量 Soluble phenolics content	-0.70	-0.46	0.14	0.48
纤维素含量 Cellulose content	-0.19	0.84	0.42	-0.05
木质素含量 Lignin content	-0.80	0.09	-0.40	-0.30

Fig. 3 Phenogram from hierarchical cluster analysis in subtropical forests. Each branch at the bottom of the phenogram represents one species.

Fig. 4 Effects of leaf traits and relative growth rates on the mean proportion of leaf damage by insect herbivores in most parsimonious phylogenetic generalized least squares (PGLS) model (A), and effects of leaf functional traits on relative growth rate in most parsimonious PGLS model (B). Points and lines show the means and 95% credible intervals of the coefficients, respectively. Cellulose, cellulose content; LDMC, leaf dry matter content; LP, leaf phosphorus content; RGR, relative growth rate; Tannin, tannin content. *, p < 0.05; ***, p < 0.001.

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