Plant-herbivore interactions along elevational gradient: Comparison of field and common garden data

0467333 - ÚVGZ 2017 RIV FR eng J - Journal Article
Rokaya, Maan Bahadur - Dostálek, T. - Münzbergová, Z.
Plant-herbivore interactions along elevational gradient: Comparison of field and common garden data.
Acta Oecologica-International Journal of Ecology. Roč. 77, nov (2016), s. 168-175. ISSN 1146-609X. E-ISSN 1873-6238
Institutional support: RVO:67179843
Keywords : Anti-herbivore defence * Altitude * Herbivore damage * Himalayan region * Lamiaceae
Subject RIV: EF - Botanics
Impact factor: 1.652, year: 2016

In response to climate change, various organisms tend to migrate to higher elevations and latitudes. Unequal migration rates of plants and animals are expected to result in changes in the type and intensity of their interactions such as plant-herbivore interactions. In the present study, we studied the extent of herbivore damage in Salvia nubicola along an elevational gradient in Manang, central Nepal. A common garden experiment was also carried out by sowing seeds collected from different populations along the elevational gradient. As expected, the extent of herbivore damage in the field was significantly lower at higher elevations, and it increased with the population size and at sites without shrubs. In the common garden experiment, herbivore damage was higher in plants originating from lower elevations and from more open habitats. While higher herbivore pressure in the field at lower elevations may suggest that plants will be better protected against herbivores at lower elevations, the common garden study demonstrated the opposite. A possible explanation could be that plants from higher elevations have to adapt to extreme conditions, and lower palatability is a side effect of these adaptations. Thus, S. nubicola in the Himalayan region is likely to survive the expected higher herbivore pressure caused by an upward shift of herbivores under future climate change. Future studies should attempt to elucidate generality of such a conclusion by studying multiple species along similar gradients. Our results from comparison of the field and common garden study suggest that future experiments need to include comparisons in common environments to understand the expected response of plants to changes in herbivore pressure.
Permanent Link: http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0265451