Find research datasets worth reusing

Data set for: Leaf trait association in relation to herbivore defense, drought resistance, and economics in a tropical invasive plant

Premsie: Exploring how functional traits vary and covary is important to understand plant responses to environmental change. However, we have limited understanding of the ways multiple functional traits vary and covary within invasive species. Methods: We measured 12 leaf traits of an invasive plant Chromolaena odorata, associated with plant or leaf economics, herbivore defense, and drought resistance on 10 introduced populations from Asia and 12 native populations from America, selected across a broad range of climatic conditions, and grown in a common garden. Results: Species' range and climatic conditions influenced leaf traits, but trait variation across climate space differed between the introduced and native ranges. Traits that confer defense against herbivores and drought resistance were associated with economic strategy, but the patterns differed by range. Plants from introduced populations that were at the fast-return end of the spectrum (high photosynthetic capacity) had high physical defense traits (high trichome density), whereas plants from native populations that were at the fast-return end of the spectrum had high drought escape traits (early leaf senescence and high percentage of withered shoots). Conclusions: Our results indicate that invasive plants can rapidly adapt to novel environmental conditions. C. odorata showed multiple different functional trait covariation patterns and clines in the native and introduced ranges. Our results emphasize that interaction between multiple traits or functions should be considered when investigating the adaptive evolution of invasive plants.

Cross-scale drivers of woody plant species commonness and rarity in the Brazilian drylands

Aim: Locally abundant species are typically widespread, while locally scarce species are geographically restricted – the so-called abundance-occupancy relationships (AORs). AORs help explain the drivers of species rarity and community assembly, but little is known about how variation around such relationships is driven by species traits and niche-based processes, particularly in tropical woody plants. We tested the hypothesis that AORs in tropical dryland woody plants are positive and mediated by niche and functional traits along environmental gradients. Location: The Caatinga dry forest and Cerrado savannah, Brazil. Methods: We aggregated abundance and occurrence data into grid-cells representing local (10-km) to landscape scales (50-km). We calculated species mean relative abundance at occupied grid-cells (local abundance) and the proportion of grid-cells occupied (occupancy), and estimated their niche breadth and marginality along multivariate environmental gradients. Results: AORs were positive but weak at different scales in both regions due to some locally abundant but geographically restricted species, with most species being both locally and geographically rare. Cross-species variation in local abundance was largely unpredictable, but occupancy was strongly driven by niche and functional traits, with a prominent negative effect of niche marginality. Geographically restricted species were associated with rare habitats, such as wetter and less intensively used habitats. Large seeds and abiotic dispersal favoured occupancy in Caatinga at small and large spatial scales, respectively, whereas species with conservative leaves were more widespread across scales in Cerrado. Main conclusions: Woody plants in dry tropical biotas exhibit weak AORs, likely related to low habitat availability and dispersal limitation. Caatinga and Cerrado emerge as environmentally structured at multiple spatial scales, with several habitat-specialist rare species bearing specific regenerative and resource-use traits and relying on conditions threatened by climate change and land-use intensification. Examining AORs through the lens of niche, functional traits and spatial scales enables mapping patterns and drivers of species commonness and rarity, enhancing understanding of species assembly and providing tools for biodiversity conservation.

Data from: Grassland type and seasonal effects have a bigger influence on plant functional and taxonomical diversity than prairie dog disturbances in semi-arid grasslands

Prairie dogs (Cynomys sp.) are considered keystone species and ecosystem engineers for their grazing and burrowing activities (summarized here as disturbances). As climate changes and its variability increases, the mechanisms underlying organisms' interactions with their habitat will likely shift. Understanding the mediating role of prairie dog disturbance on vegetation structure, and its interaction with environmental conditions through time, will increase knowledge on the risks and vulnerability of grasslands. Here, we compared how plant taxonomical diversity, functional diversity metrics and community-weighted trait means (CWM) respond to prairie dog C. mexicanus disturbance across grassland types and seasons (dry and wet) in a priority conservation semiarid grassland of Northeast Mexico. Our findings suggest that functional metrics and CWM analyses responded to interactions between prairie dog disturbance, grassland type and season, whilst species diversity and cover measures were less sensitive to the role of prairie dog disturbance. We found weak evidence that prairie dog disturbance has a negative effect on vegetation structure, except for minimal effects on C4 and graminoid cover, but which depended mainly on season. Grassland type and season explained most of the effects on plant functional and taxonomic diversity as well as CWM traits. Furthermore, we found that leaf area as well as forb and annual cover increased during the wet season, independent of prairie dog disturbance. Our results provide evidence that grassland type and season have a stronger effect than prairie dog disturbance on the vegetation of this short-grass, water restricted grassland ecosystem. We argue that focusing solely on disturbance and grazing effects is misleading, and attention is needed on the relationships between vegetation and environmental conditions which will be critical to understand semi-arid grassland dynamics under future climate change conditions in the region.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2022View details →

Wild food plants in the Soviet books

The presented dataset aimed to fill a gap in the research on the evolution of book knowledge about wild food plants in the USSR. The dataset enables the expansion of documenting of ethnobotanical data by creating a database of plant taxa to further incorporate information from previous research on the topic and future fieldwork studies in the region.  Wild food plants are a valuable yet underutilized natural resource with great potential for nutritional purposes. The knowledge of using wild plants for food can be of particular importance in times of food shortages that may arise due to economic, political, and environmental factors. At the same time, research on edible wild plants and their modes of consumption helps to explore the biodiversity of the study region and its cultural characteristics and contribute to a more sustainable and resilient future.

The expression of demographic costs of reproduction varies among coexisting plants with different life history traits

1. Demographic costs of reproduction in flowering plants should depend on life history and reproductive effort, but how the expression of costs varies with life history traits is poorly understood. 2. We experimentally increased and reduced reproductive effort (fruit production) to quantify demographic costs of reproduction in four coexisting species with contrasting growth forms (clonal vs. nonclonal) and flower production (single- vs. multi-flowered). We repeated the experiment in three years, and measured demographic rates the year after treatment. In two years, we also quantified costs of flower maintenance by contrasting the performance of nonfruiting plants with intact flowers and plants with their flowers removed. 3. Costs varied among species, in both magnitude and demographic rate affected. Costs of natural reproduction were expressed as reductions in size and fecundity next year, whereas increased reproduction additionally reduced sprouting probability. The magnitude of demographic costs of both reproduction and flower maintenance was highest in the nonclonal, multi-flowered species, and costs were more frequently detected in the two multi-flowered species than in the single-flowered ones. This may be explained by higher biomass allocation to reproductive parts and a longer flowering period in the former. Demographic costs of reproduction did not depend on clone size. 4. These results document that demographic costs vary among coexisting species sharing similar niches, and are associated with divergence in life history traits. Such trait-dependent variation in costs may reduce competition among coexisting species and facilitate diversity.

Functional composition of plant communities mediates biomass effects on ecosystem service recovery across an experimental dryland restoration network

Land degradation can result in a loss of critical ecosystem services that we often seek to restore through re-establishment of desired plant communities. Trait-based approaches have the potential to target specific ecosystem services based on associations between the functional composition of plant communities and ecosystem properties that serve as indicators of those services. The effect of functional composition on ecosystem recovery may depend on the amount of restored plant biomass, itself a supporting service frequently targeted in restoration efforts. Yet, interactions between functional composition and biomass are not formally integrated into trait-based analytical frameworks. We tested the hypothesis that functional composition of plant communities both drives, and interacts with, biomass production to influence indicators of soil functioning and weed suppression across a network of degraded dryland restoration experiments. This networked approach allowed us to identify generalized effects of functional composition on ecosystem recovery across a range of dryland climate conditions. Climate had a substantial effect on ecosystem indicators, with weed cover and soil surface stability increasing in more arid climates, water infiltration increasing with precipitation, and aggregate structure increasing with less freezing. After accounting for climate effects across study sites, we found significant effects of community-weighted mean (CWM) trait values on biomass, particularly a positive effect of leaf carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, and of CWM-biomass interactions on other ecosystem indicators. Cover of exotic species was reduced in restored communities with a combination of low leaf dry matter content and high biomass, soil water infiltration increased with lower specific root length and high biomass, and soil aggregate stability increased with higher root dry matter content and high biomass, among other effects. Functional diversity had no significant effects on any ecosystem indicators. Synthesis: The influence of community functional composition on ecosystem properties increases with community biomass, particularly in disturbed or low productivity systems. This suggests that active management should not only focus on trait values that optimize individual ecosystem indicators, but also how those functional strategies are complementary or counter to those that increase biomass.

opencc-by-4.0Mar 2022View details →

Pre-processed data for "Does host plant drive variation in microbial gut communities in a recently shifted pest?"

Pre-processed fastqs files generated by Illumina sequencing associated with the publication by Javal et al. entitled "Does host plant drive variation in microbial gut communities in a recently shifted pest?".

Plant specialisation may limit climate‐induced vegetation change to within topographic and edaphic niches on a sub‐Antarctic island

Extreme changes in temperature, rainfall and wind regimes have been correlated with plant species range expansion upslope on sub-Antarctic islands. Ongoing climatic changes are expected to continue driving changes in species distributions globally, but niche specialisations may limit the capacity for range shifts. We hypothesised that non-climatic characteristics of ecological niches of vascular plant species could limit climate induced range shifts. We determined the altitudinal ranges of vascular plant species (n=13) on sub-Antarctic Marion Island and measured air temperature, topographic, foliar and soil properties along transects on geologically distinct substrates. Climatic and non-climatic associations were determined using multiple linear regression and boosted regression tree (BRT) analyses. The degree of niche specialisation was determined using outlying mean index analysis (OMI) within the range of species on the island. Several species (7 of 13) exhibited niche-specialisation. Correlation analysis revealed that edaphic properties including soil depth, loss on ignition, the principal component of most soil nutrients (Mg, Cl, K, Ca, Cu, Zn, P, S), Si, Mn and clay dominated the BRT prediction of overall plant cover. Although air temperature was correlated with plant cover in linear models, model simplification dropped temperature in both BRT and linear models. As a consequence, multiple determinants, including temperature, climate, topography and soils control the distribution of vascular plant species on this sub-Antarctic island.

Plant invasion modifies isohydricity in Mediterranean tree species

Understanding of plant hydraulic strategies (i.e., the degree of iso-/anisohydricity) is crucial to predict the response of plants to changing environmental conditions such as climate-change induced extreme drought. Several abiotic factors, including evaporative demand, have been shown to seasonally modify the isohydricity of plants. However, the impact of biotic factors such as plant-plant interactions on hydraulic strategies has seldom been explored. Here, we investigated adaptations and changes in hydraulic strategies of two woody species in response to seasonal abiotic conditions, experimental drought, and plant invasion in a Mediterranean cork oak (Quercus suber) ecosystem with a combined shrub invasion (Cistus ladanifer) and rain exclusion experiment. From the dry to wet season, Q. suber shifted from a partial isohydric to an anisohydric behaviour while C. ladanifer shifted from strict anisohydric to partial isohydric. During drought, water competition by plant invasion significantly modified the hydraulic strategy of invaded Q. suber, which was accompanied by lower pre-dawn leaf water potentials, sap flow density, leaf area index, and trunk increment rates. This altered isohydricity of invaded Q. suber trees was most likely caused by interspecific competition for water resources by water spending C. ladanifer shrubs. Both species do have the highest proportion of fine roots in the topsoil and thus, an additional water consumer, such as C. ladanifer can lead to more stressful conditions for Q. suber during times of water scarcity. Further underlying mechanisms of the altered isohydricity of Q. suber, such as potential allelopathic effects of C. ladanifer exudates on root growth of Q. suber, have to be investigated in the future. In conclusion, we demonstrate that the degree of isohydricity of two woody Mediterranean plant species is dynamically determined by the interplay of species-specific hydraulic traits and their abiotic and biotic environment.

opencc-by-nc-sa-4.0Jun 2022View details →

Satellite-derived water quality data for Western Water Treatment Plant (Melbourne, Australia) 2015-2019

This dataset contains satellite-derived water quality (WQ) data of Western Water Treatment Plant (Melbourne, Australia) for the years 2015-2019. Available parameters are: Total Absorption (ABS), Chlorophyll-a (CHL), Harmful Algae Bloom Indicator (HAB), True-color image (RGB), Secchi Disc Depth (SDD), Total Suspended Matter (TSM) and Turbidity (TUR). WQ parameters have been calculated using EOMAPs physics-based MIP from Sentinel-2. The data are available as GeoTiff files in web-mercator projection (EPSG: 3857). Further information can be found in the readme files. Contains Copernicus data. Credits: ESA (2022).

opencc-by-4.0Jan 2021View details →

Leaf thickness measurements of plants

# Analysis Scripts for 'Leveraging Plant Dynamics Using Physical Reservoir Computing' There is leaf thickness and physiological data available from three experiments: a control experiment and two strawberry experiments. In each experiment, the environmental conditions of a growth chamber are modulated (light intensity,  temperature and relative humidity) and a single strawberry plant is located inside the chamber. Leaf thickness measurement clips are mounted on the plant except for the control experiment. In this case a plant is still inserted but the clips are not mounted. Physiological data of the plant is collected in all three experiments using a LI6400XT photosynthesis system. An overview of the available parameters is included below. N/A refers to a sensor that is not calibrated and/or temperature compensated. Calibration data is available TODO | parameter                                           | unit      | description                                        | |-----------------------------------------------------|-----------|----------------------------------------------------| | light_sensor_lux                                    | lux       | light intensity (humain)                           | | leaf_thickness_1_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 1                           | | leaf_thickness_1_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 1                           | | leaf_temp_1_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 1                         | | leaf_thickness_2_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 2                           | | leaf_thickness_2_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 2                           | | leaf_temp_2_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 2                         | | leaf_thickness_3_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 3                           | | leaf_thickness_3_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 3                           | | leaf_temp_3_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 3                         | | leaf_thickness_4_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 4                           | | leaf_thickness_4_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 4                           | | leaf_temp_4_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 4                         | | leaf_thickness_5_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 5                           | | leaf_thickness_5_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 5                           | | leaf_temp_5_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 5                         | | leaf_thickness_6_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 6                           | | leaf_thickness_6_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 6                           | | leaf_temp_6_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 6                         | | leaf_thickness_7_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 7                           | | leaf_thickness_7_nc_au                              | N/A       | raw leaf thickness measurement                     | | leaf_temp_7_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 7                         | | leaf_thickness_8_um                                 | um        | thickness of leaf clip 8                           | | leaf_thickness_8_nc_au                              | N/A       | thickness of leaf clip 8                           | | leaf_temp_8_nc_au                                   | N/A       | temperature of leaf clip 8                         | | ref_mon_0                                           | N/A       | monitor of the 3.3V ADC reference (board 0)        | | ref_mon_1                                           | N/A       | monitor of the 3.3V ADC reference (board 1)        | | ref_mon_2                                           | N/A       | monitor of the 3.3V ADC reference (board 2)        | | ref_mon_3                                           | N/A       | monitor of the 3.3V ADC reference (board 3)        | | soil_water_content_nc_au                            | N/A       | soil water concentration                           | | air_temperature_C                                   | degree C  | air temperature                                    | | relative_humidity_percent                           | %         | relative humidity                                  | | li6400xt_external_probe_air_temperature_C           | degree C  | air temperature of external probe                  | | li6400xt_external_probe_relative_humidity_percent   | %         | rel. humidity of external probe                    | | li6400xt_photosynthetic_rate_umol/m2/s              | umol/m2/s | photosynthetic rate                                | | li6400xt_stomatal_conductance_mol/m2/s              | mol/m2/s  | stomatal conductance                               | | li6400xt_transpiration_rate_mmol/m2/s               | mmol/m2/s | transoration rate                                  | | li6400xt_vapour_pressure_deficit_kPa                | kPa       | vapour pressure deficit                            | | li6400xt_sample_cell_air_temperature_C              | degree C  | air temperature in the sample cell                 | | li6400xt_leaf_temperature_C                         | degree C  | temperature of leaf inside sample cell             | | li6400xt_ref_cell_CO2_conc_umol/mol                 | umol/mol  | CO2 concentration in the reference cell            | | li6400xt_sample_cell_CO2_conc_umol/mol              | umol/mol  | CO2 concentration in the sample cell               | | li6400xt_ref_cell_H2O_conc_mmol/mol                 | mmol/mol  | H2O concentration in the reference cell            | | li6400xt_sample_cell_H2O_conc_mmol/mol              | mmol/mol  | H2O concentration in the sample cell               | | li6400xt_ref_cell_relative_humidity_conc_percent    | %         | Rel. humidity in the reference cell                | | li6400xt_sample_cell_relative_humidity_conc_percent | %         | Rel. humidity in the sample cell                   | | li6400xt_PAR_inside_chamber_umol/m2/s               | umol/m2/s | PAR inside leaf chamber                            | | li6400xt_PAR_outside_chamber_umol/m2/s              | umol/m2/s | PAR outside leaf chamber                           | | li6400xt_air_pressure_kPa                           | kPa       | air pressure                                       | | time                                                | time      | sample time                                        | | train_val_test_split                                |           | data split on da day-basis, all days equal         | | train_val_test_split2                               |           | data split on da day-basis, train focus on first 5 | | di_2                                                |           | discard interval for +-2h from center of night     | | di_4                                                |           | discard interval for +-4h from center of night     | | di_6                                                |           | discard interval for +-6h from center of night     | | di_9                                                |           | discard interval for +-9h from center of night     | | di2_2                                               |           | discard interval for +-2h from center of night     | | di2_4                                               |           | discard interval for +-4h from center of night     | | di2_6                                               |           | discard interval for +-6h from center of night     | | di2_9                                               |           | discard interval for +-9h from center of night     | Non-calibrated variables are usually RAW ADC readout values. The ADC range is 0-3.3V, where the midpoint is at 1.65V (0x0). `train_val_test_split` interleaves the train and test splits, such that drift in the system is automatically compensated for, while `train_val_test_split2` does not. The test data is always at the end of the analysis. `train_val_test_split` should be used with `di_`, and `train_val_test_split2` should be used with `di2_`. Three data formats are available: `data`, `full_data` and `mini_data`. `data` was used to generate the results. It is a cropped version of `full_data` that discards part of the start of the experiment and end to remove transient effects at the start. `mini_data` is a subsampled dataset, with sample spacing of 60s (sample interval), which is useful for plotting and fast analysis.

opencc-zeroJun 2021View details →

Study of the genetic and phenotypic variation among wild and cultivated clary sages provides interesting avenues for breeding programs of a perfume, medicinal and aromatic plant

A road-map of the genetic and phenotypic diversities in both crops and their wild-related species can help identifying valuable genetic resources for further crop breeding. The clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.), a perfume, medicinal and aromatic plant, is used for sclareol production and ornamental purposes. Despite its wide use in the field of cosmetics, the phenotypic and genetic diversity of wild and cultivated clary sage remains to be explored. We characterized the genetic and phenotypic variation of a collection of six wild S. sclarea populations from Croatia, sampled along an altitudinal gradient, and of populations of three S. sclarea cultivars. We showed low level of genetic diversity for the two S. sclarea traditional cultivars used for essential oil production and for ornamental purposes, respectively. In contrast, a recent cultivar resulting from new breeding methods, which involve hybridizations among several genotypes rather than traditional recurrent selection and self-crosses over time, showed high genetic diversity. We also observed a marked phenotypic differentiation for the ornamental clary sage compared with other cultivated and wild clary sages. Instead, the two cultivars used for essential oil production, a traditional and a recent, respectively, were not phenotypically differentiated from the wild Croatian populations. Our results also featured some wild populations with high sclareol content and early-flowering phenotypes as good candidates for future breeding programs. This study opens up perspectives for basic research aiming at understanding the impact of breeding methods on clary sage evolution, and highlights interesting avenues for clary breeding programs.

opencc-by-4.0Jun 2022View details →

Not Only Systemin Prosystemin Harbors Other Active Regions Able to Protect Tomato Plants

Prosystemin is a 200-amino acid precursor expressed in Solanaceae plants which releases at the C-terminal part a peptidic hormone called Systemin in response to wounding and herbivore attack. We recently showed that Prosystemin is not only a mere scaffold of Systemin but, even when deprived of Systemin, is biologically active. These results, combined with recent discoveries that Prosystemin is an intrinsically disordered protein containing disordered regions within its sequence, prompted us to investigate the N-terminal portions of the precursor, which contribute to the greatest disorder within the sequence. To this aim, PS1-70 and PS1-120 were designed, produced, and structurally and functionally characterized. Both the fragments, which maintained their intrinsic disorder, were able to induce defense-related genes and to protect tomato plants against Botrytis cinerea and Spodoptera littoralis larvae. Intriguingly, the biological activity of each of the two N-terminal fragments and of Systemin is similar but not quite the same and does not show any toxicity on experimental non-targets considered. These regions account for different anti-stress activities conferred to tomato plants by their overexpression. The two N-terminal fragments identified in this study may represent new promising tools for sustainable crop protection.

opencc-by-4.0May 2022View details →

Growth rate and life history shape plant resistance.

Premise: Plant defenses are shaped by many factors, including herbivory, lifespan, and mating system. Predictions about plant defense and resistance are often based on resource allocation trade‐offs with plant growth and reproduction. Additionally, two types of plant resistance, constitutive and induced resistance, are predicted to be evolutionary alternatives or redundant strategies. Given the variety of plant trait combinations and non‐mutually exclusive predictions, examining resistance strategies in related species with different combinations of growth and reproductive traits is important to tease apart roles of plant traits and evolutionary history on plant resistance. Methods: Phylogenetic comparative methods were used to examine the potentially interacting influences of life history (annual/perennial), mating system (self‐compatible/self-incompatible), and species growth rates on constitutive resistance and inducibility (additional resistance following damage) across Physalis species (Solanaceae). Results: Resistance was evolutionarily labile, and there was no correlation between constitutive resistance and inducibility. Annual species with fast growth rates displayed higher constitutive resistance, but growth rate did not affect constitutive resistance in perennials. In contrast, inducibility was negatively associated with species growth rate regardless of life history or mating system. Conclusions: The different effects of plant life history and growth rate on constitutive resistance and inducibility indicate that defensive evolution is unconstrained by a trade‐off between resistance types. The interactions among plant life history, growth, and herbivore resistance show that plant defense is shaped not only by herbivore environment, but also by plant traits that reflect a plant's evolutionary history and local selective pressures.

Host plant specificity of the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus: A systematic review and meta-analysis

The preference-performance hypothesis explains host specificity in phytophagous insects, positing that host plants chosen by adults confer the greatest larval fitness. However, adults sometimes oviposit on plants supporting low larval success because the components of host specificity (adult preference, plant palatability, and larval survival) are non-binary and not necessarily correlated. Palatability (willingness to eat) is governed by chemical cues and physical barriers such as trichomes, while survival (ability to complete development) depends upon nutrition and toxicity. Absence of a correlation between the components of host specificity results in low-performance hosts supporting limited larval development. Most studies of specificity focus on oviposition behavior leaving the importance and basis of palatability and survival under-explored. We conducted a comprehensive review of 127 plant species that have been claimed or tested to be hosts for the monarch butterfly Danaus plexippus to classify them as non-hosts, low performance, or high performance. We performed a meta-analysis to test if performance status could be explained by the properties of neurotoxic cardenolides or trichome density. We also conducted a no-choice larval feeding experiment to identify the causes of low performance. We identified 34 high performance, 42 low performance, 33 non-hosts, and 18 species with unsubstantiated claims. Mean cardenolide concentration was greater in high- than low-performance hosts and a significant predictor of host status, suggesting possible evolutionary trade-offs in monarch specialization. Other cardenolide properties and trichome density were not significant predictors of host status. In the experiment, we found, of the 62% of larvae that attempted to eat low-performance hosts, only 3.5% survived to adult compared to 85% of those on the high-performance host, demonstrating that multiple factors affect larval host plant specificity. Our study is the first to classify all known host plants for monarchs and has conservation implications for this threatened species.

opencc-zeroDec 2011View details →

Data from: An extreme case of plant-insect codiversification: figs and fig-pollinating wasps

It is thought that speciation in phytophagous insects is often due to colonization of novel host plants, because radiations of plant and insect lineages are typically asynchronous. Recent phylogenetic comparisons have supported this model of diversification for both insect herbivores and specialized pollinators. An exceptional case where contemporaneous plant–insect diversification might be expected is the obligate mutualism between fig trees (Ficus species, Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Agaonidae, Hymenoptera). The ubiquity and ecological significance of this mutualism in tropical and subtropical ecosystems has long intrigued biologists, but the systematic challenge posed by >750 interacting species pairs has hindered progress toward understanding its evolutionary history. In particular, taxon sampling and analytical tools have been insufficient for large-scale cophylogenetic analyses. Here, we sampled nearly 200 interacting pairs of fig and wasp species from across the globe. Two supermatrices were assembled: on an average, wasps had sequences from 77% of 6 genes (5.6 kb), figs had sequences from 60% of 5 genes (5.5 kb), and overall 850 new DNA sequences were generated for this study. We also developed a new analytical tool, Jane 2, for event-based phylogenetic reconciliation analysis of very large data sets. Separate Bayesian phylogenetic analyses for figs and fig wasps under relaxed molecular clock assumptions indicate Cretaceous diversification of crown groups and contemporaneous divergence for nearly half of all fig and pollinator lineages. Event-based cophylogenetic analyses further support the codiversification hypothesis. Biogeographic analyses indicate that the present-day distribution of fig and pollinator lineages is consistent with a Eurasian origin and subsequent dispersal, rather than with Gondwanan vicariance. Overall, our findings indicate that the fig-pollinator mutualism represents an extreme case among plant–insect interactions of coordinated dispersal and long-term codiversification.

Defensive mutualists affect outcross pollen transfer and male fitness in their host plant

Ant guards can increase plant fitness by deterring herbivores, but they may also reduce it by interfering with pollination. While ant impacts on herbivory have been well-studied, much less is known about their impacts on pollinators and associated consequences for plant pollination, particularly pollen transfer dynamics and outcrossing/selfing rates. We used field experiments to quantify the effect of ant guards on pollinator community composition, frequency and duration of flower visits, and cascading effects on outcrossing pollen transfer and pollen exports in Turnera velutina (Passifloraceae). Although ant patrolling did not affect pollinator community composition or visitation frequency, it decreased flower visit duration and the time pollinators spent foraging inside flowers. Such behavioural changes resulted in reduced pollen deposition on stigmas, decreased pollen exports (a proxy for male fitness) and significantly doubled outcross pollen transfer. This study contributes to our understanding of how nonpollinator mutualists can shape plant reproductive processes. We discuss the downstream effects that variation in biotic defences, such as rewards for guarding ants, can have on plant pollen transfer patterns and fitness. In conclusion, guarding ants influence pollen transfer patterns in Turnera velutina, increasing outcrossing in a self-compatible species at the cost of male fitness. We show how non-pollinators, such as defensive ant mutualists, can shape plant reproductive traits and discuss the consequences these interactions may have for plant mating systems.

opencc-zeroJul 2022View details →

Light condition experienced by parent plants influences the response of offspring to light via both parental effects and soil legacy effects

1. Environmental conditions experienced by parent plants can influence offspring performance through parental effects induced by DNA methylation. The offspring can also be influenced by environmental conditions experienced by their parents via soil legacy effects due to plant-mediated changes in the composition of soil microbes. These two effects are likely to act simultaneously, but empirical evidence for combined effects is limited. 2. We conducted a two-phase experiment with five genotypes of a clonal plant Hydrocotyle vulgaris. In the first phase, we grew parent plants of each genotype under two light conditions (ambient vs. shade) and two DNA demethylation treatments (treated with water vs. 5-azacytidine). We then collected soils and clonal offspring for each genotype from each of these four treatments and measured soil (a)biotic properties. In the second phase, we grew the offspring from each of the four treatments in the four different soils, under the two light conditions. 3. When grown under ambient light condition and in soil from ambient parents, offspring produced by ambient parents grew larger than offspring produced by shaded parents when the parents were treated with water. This difference was smaller when the parents were treated with 5-azacytidine, and disappeared when the offspring were grown in soil from shaded parents. The growth difference was also observed when the offspring were grown under shaded condition and in soil from shaded parents. However, this difference was greater when the parents were treated with 5-azacytidine, and disappeared when the offspring were grown in soil from ambient parents. Moreover, offspring growth was associated with fungal composition and total phosphorus of the soil in which the parents had grown. 4. Our results show, for the first time, that light condition experienced by parents can influence offspring responses to light through both parental effects and soil legacies. The parental effects were mediated by changes in DNA methylation and the soil legacies were due to plant-mediated changes in a combination of soil biotic and abiotic properties. These impacts may eventually influence the ecological and evolutionary trajectories of clonal plant populations.

opencc-by-4.0Jul 2022View details →

Data associated with: Climate change will likely threaten areas of suitable habitats for the most relevant medicinal plants native to the Caatinga dry forest

Medicinal plants play an important role in providing ecosystem services, such as local cultural and economic value, and human well-being, especially in poor regions. The use of plants to improve living conditions and increase the chances of survival comes from the beginning of human life. Climate change has the potential to contract areas of suitable habitat for medicinal plant species across different regions. As a consequence of climate change, the possibility of treating diseases can be compromised, and even interrupted. We collected data from the medicinal applications and the parts that are used of 10 species of medicinal plants native to the Caatinga dry forest [i.e., Myracrodruon urundeuva Allemão (Anacardiaceae), Cereus jamacaru DC (Cactaceae), Neocalyptrocalyx longifolium (Mart) Cornejo & Iltis (Caparaceae), Maytenus rigida Mart (Celastraceae), Operculina hamiltonii (G Don) DF Austin Staples, Operculina macrocarpa (L) Urb (Convolvulaceae), Amburana cearensis (Allemao) AC Sm, Anadenantehra colubrina (Vell) Brenan, Bauhinia cheilantha (Bong) Steud and Erythrina velutina Willd (Legimonosae). In addition, we also collected precise georeferenced data (native occurrence) of these medicinal plant species, that was accessed in 1) The Global Biodiversity Information Facility platform (GBIF) is an international data network funded by governments around the world, providing open access to data on all life on Earth (https:// www.gbif.org, accessed May 2022); 2) REFLORA - Herbário Virtual, virtual herbarium network that contains information on Brazilian plants that are deposited in 63 herbaria in Brazil and 10 international herbaria (http://reflora.jbrj.gov.br/reflora/herbarioVirtual, accessed May 2022); 3) Botanical Information and Ecology Network Platform (BIEN), a global information network that helps to document patterns of plant diversity, trait records and distribution, which includes georeferenced plant observation data from herbarium records, plots, survey inventories (https://bien .nceas.ucsb.edu/bien/biendata, accessed May 2022) and 4) 95 botanical monographs and floras. We excluded all repeated and mismatch occurrence data for each species. We collected all the available points for the studied species.