Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age
Abstract Intraspecific interactions can change from facilitative to competitive depending on the organism's ontogeny. In plant‐feeding insects, host plant defenses can be strengthened or weakened by insect feeding and can therefore be important for determining whether two insects feeding on the...
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8056 |
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doaj-e4c387359da949a585124f92604d7a632021-10-07T10:41:54ZengWileyEcology and Evolution2045-77582021-10-011119133351334710.1002/ece3.8056Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs ageMeredith Cenzer0Department of Ecology and Evolution The University of Chicago Chicago Illinois USAAbstract Intraspecific interactions can change from facilitative to competitive depending on the organism's ontogeny. In plant‐feeding insects, host plant defenses can be strengthened or weakened by insect feeding and can therefore be important for determining whether two insects feeding on the same plant help or harm each other's fitness. Here, I conducted two experiments looking at the direct effect of a physical seed defense and the role of intraspecific facilitation in reducing the effects of that defense for juveniles of the red‐shouldered soapberry bug. I demonstrate that juveniles are severely inhibited by the tough seed coat of their host plant, leading to high mortality early in development. Adults, in contrast, can create holes through which younger individuals could potentially feed. I manipulated whether or not seeds were fed on by adults on two host plant species: a well‐defended native host and a poorly defended introduced host. Survival in the first week of development was dramatically improved by prior adult feeding, and this facilitation was stronger on the well‐defended host plant. However, the benefits of prior adult feeding ceased after the first week of development and shifted to having a negative effect on survival, development time, and body size. These results indicate that ontogeny is a key factor determining the effects of plant defenses and the strength and direction of intraspecific interactions across multiple host plant species.https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8056intraspecific interactionsniche shiftontogenyplant defensestress |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Meredith Cenzer |
spellingShingle |
Meredith Cenzer Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age Ecology and Evolution intraspecific interactions niche shift ontogeny plant defense stress |
author_facet |
Meredith Cenzer |
author_sort |
Meredith Cenzer |
title |
Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age |
title_short |
Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age |
title_full |
Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age |
title_fullStr |
Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age |
title_full_unstemmed |
Adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age |
title_sort |
adult facilitation becomes competition as juvenile soapberry bugs age |
publisher |
Wiley |
series |
Ecology and Evolution |
issn |
2045-7758 |
publishDate |
2021-10-01 |
description |
Abstract Intraspecific interactions can change from facilitative to competitive depending on the organism's ontogeny. In plant‐feeding insects, host plant defenses can be strengthened or weakened by insect feeding and can therefore be important for determining whether two insects feeding on the same plant help or harm each other's fitness. Here, I conducted two experiments looking at the direct effect of a physical seed defense and the role of intraspecific facilitation in reducing the effects of that defense for juveniles of the red‐shouldered soapberry bug. I demonstrate that juveniles are severely inhibited by the tough seed coat of their host plant, leading to high mortality early in development. Adults, in contrast, can create holes through which younger individuals could potentially feed. I manipulated whether or not seeds were fed on by adults on two host plant species: a well‐defended native host and a poorly defended introduced host. Survival in the first week of development was dramatically improved by prior adult feeding, and this facilitation was stronger on the well‐defended host plant. However, the benefits of prior adult feeding ceased after the first week of development and shifted to having a negative effect on survival, development time, and body size. These results indicate that ontogeny is a key factor determining the effects of plant defenses and the strength and direction of intraspecific interactions across multiple host plant species. |
topic |
intraspecific interactions niche shift ontogeny plant defense stress |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8056 |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT meredithcenzer adultfacilitationbecomescompetitionasjuvenilesoapberrybugsage |
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