Züst, Tobias; Agrawal, Anurag A. (2017). Plant chemical defense indirectly mediates aphid performance via interactions with tending ants. Ecology, 98(3), pp. 601-607. Ecological Society of America 10.1002/ecy.1707
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The benefits of mutualistic interactions are often highly context dependent. We studied the interaction between the milkweed aphid Aphis asclepiadis and a tending ant, Formica podzolica. While this interaction is generally considered beneficial, variation in plant genotype may alter it from mutualistic to antagonistic. Here we link the shift in strength and relative benefit of the ant-aphid interaction to plant genotypic variation in the production of cardenolides, a class of toxic defensive chemicals. In a field experiment with highly variable genotypes of the common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca), we show that plant cardenolides, especially polar forms, are ingested and excreted by the aphid proportionally to plant concentrations without directly affecting aphid performance. Ants consume honeydew, and aphids that excreted high amounts of cardenolides received fewer ant visits, in turn reducing aphid survival. On at least some plant genotypes, aphid numbers per plant were reduced in the presence of ants to levels lower than in corresponding ant-exclusion treatments, suggesting antagonistic ant behavior. While cardenolides thus appear ineffective as direct plant defenses against aphids, the multi-trophic context reveals an ant-mediated negative indirect effect on aphid performance and population dynamics.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Biotic Interactions 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) > Plant Ecology 08 Faculty of Science > Department of Biology > Institute of Plant Sciences (IPS) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Züst, Tobias |
Subjects: |
500 Science > 580 Plants (Botany) |
ISSN: |
0012-9658 |
Publisher: |
Ecological Society of America |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Peter Alfred von Ballmoos-Haas |
Date Deposited: |
05 Apr 2017 15:06 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 15:02 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1002/ecy.1707 |
PubMed ID: |
28060424 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Asclepias syriaca, cardenolides, multitrophic interactions, mutualism |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.95141 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/95141 |
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