Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation

Abstract Under the background of global climate change, climate warming has led to an increase in insect herbivory, which significantly affects the growth, survival, and regeneration of forest plants in the warm temperate zone of China. Plants can adopt defense responses to adapt to insect defoliati...

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Main Authors: Ning Wang, Qiang Li, Pan Wu, Shijie Yi, Hongliang Ji, Xiao Liu, Tongli He
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2024-12-01
Series:BMC Ecology and Evolution
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02334-y
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author Ning Wang
Qiang Li
Pan Wu
Shijie Yi
Hongliang Ji
Xiao Liu
Tongli He
author_facet Ning Wang
Qiang Li
Pan Wu
Shijie Yi
Hongliang Ji
Xiao Liu
Tongli He
author_sort Ning Wang
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Under the background of global climate change, climate warming has led to an increase in insect herbivory, which significantly affects the growth, survival, and regeneration of forest plants in the warm temperate zone of China. Plants can adopt defense responses to adapt to insect defoliation. Therefore, field experiments were conducted on five common warm temperate species, Quercus acutissima, Quercus serrata, Quercus aliena, Quercus dentata, and Robinia pseudoacacia. We measured the leaf traits of healthy trees and insect defoliated trees, to explore the response strategies of common species in warm temperate zones to insect defoliation. Our results showed that native species stored more carbon in extreme environments for survival rather than growth, while the alien species R. pseudoacacia tended to adopt active resource acquisition strategies and were more inclined towards growth. The content of tannins and flavonoids in the alien species R. pseudoacacia did not significantly increase after leaf damage, while the content of secondary metabolites such as tannins, flavonoids, and total phenols in the native species Q. acutissima, Q. serrata, Q. aliena, Q. dentata increased significantly after leaf damage. This indicated that compared to alien species, native species invested more resources in defense, which might reduce resource allocation for growth. Thus, the native Quercus species have stronger resistance than the alien species R. pseudoacacia after insect defoliation.
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spelling doaj-art-0a1b428c2d8a4846847e39b0678227d42025-08-20T02:31:04ZengBMCBMC Ecology and Evolution2730-71822024-12-0124111010.1186/s12862-024-02334-yResponse strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliationNing Wang0Qiang Li1Pan Wu2Shijie Yi3Hongliang Ji4Xiao Liu5Tongli He6School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Weifang UniversityInstitute of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, Shandong UniversityInstitute of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, Shandong UniversitySchool of Advanced Agricultural Sciences, Weifang UniversitySchool of Geography and Tourism, Qilu Normal UniversityInstitute of Ecology and Biodiversity, School of Life Sciences, Shandong UniversityAbstract Under the background of global climate change, climate warming has led to an increase in insect herbivory, which significantly affects the growth, survival, and regeneration of forest plants in the warm temperate zone of China. Plants can adopt defense responses to adapt to insect defoliation. Therefore, field experiments were conducted on five common warm temperate species, Quercus acutissima, Quercus serrata, Quercus aliena, Quercus dentata, and Robinia pseudoacacia. We measured the leaf traits of healthy trees and insect defoliated trees, to explore the response strategies of common species in warm temperate zones to insect defoliation. Our results showed that native species stored more carbon in extreme environments for survival rather than growth, while the alien species R. pseudoacacia tended to adopt active resource acquisition strategies and were more inclined towards growth. The content of tannins and flavonoids in the alien species R. pseudoacacia did not significantly increase after leaf damage, while the content of secondary metabolites such as tannins, flavonoids, and total phenols in the native species Q. acutissima, Q. serrata, Q. aliena, Q. dentata increased significantly after leaf damage. This indicated that compared to alien species, native species invested more resources in defense, which might reduce resource allocation for growth. Thus, the native Quercus species have stronger resistance than the alien species R. pseudoacacia after insect defoliation.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02334-yLeaf damageResistanceToleranceWarm temperate zone
spellingShingle Ning Wang
Qiang Li
Pan Wu
Shijie Yi
Hongliang Ji
Xiao Liu
Tongli He
Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
BMC Ecology and Evolution
Leaf damage
Resistance
Tolerance
Warm temperate zone
title Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
title_full Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
title_fullStr Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
title_full_unstemmed Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
title_short Response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
title_sort response strategies of five common warm temperate plant species to insect defoliation
topic Leaf damage
Resistance
Tolerance
Warm temperate zone
url https://doi.org/10.1186/s12862-024-02334-y
work_keys_str_mv AT ningwang responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation
AT qiangli responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation
AT panwu responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation
AT shijieyi responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation
AT hongliangji responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation
AT xiaoliu responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation
AT tonglihe responsestrategiesoffivecommonwarmtemperateplantspeciestoinsectdefoliation