NDLI: The Role of Seagrass Traits in Mediating Zostera noltei Vulnerability to Mesograzers

Content Provider	PubMed Central
Author	Begoña, Martínez-crego Arteaga, Pedro Tomas, Fiona Santos, Rui
Editor	Erik, Sotka
Copyright Year	2016
Abstract	Understanding how intra-specific differences in plant traits mediate vulnerability to herbivores of relevant habitat-forming plants is vital to attain a better knowledge on the drivers of the structure and functioning of ecosystems. Such studies, however, are rare in seagrass-mesograzer systems despite the increasingly recognized relevance of mesograzers as seagrass consumers. We investigated the role and potential trade-offs of multiple leaf traits in mediating the vulnerability of the seagrass Zostera noltei to different mesograzer species, the amphipod Gammarus insensibilis and the isopod Idotea chelipes. We worked with plants from two different meadows for which contrasting chemical and structural traits were expected based on previous information. We found that plants with high vulnerability to mesograzers (i.e. those preferred and subjected to higher rates of leaf area loss) had not only higher nitrogen content and lower C:N, fibre, and phenolics, but also tender and thinner leaves. No trade-offs between chemical and structural traits of the seagrass were detected, as they were positively correlated. When leaf physical structure was removed using agar-reconstituted food, amphipod preference towards high-susceptibility plants disappeared; thus indicating that structural rather than chemical traits mediated the feeding preference. Removal of plant structure reduced the size of isopod preference to less than half, indicating a stronger contribution of structural traits (> 50%) but combined with chemical/nutritional traits in mediating the preference. We then hypothesized that the high environmental nutrient levels recorded in the meadow exhibiting high susceptibility modulate the differences observed between meadows in seagrass traits. To test this hypothesis, we exposed low-vulnerability shoots to eutrophic nutrient levels in a 6-week enrichment experiment. Nutrient enrichment increased Z. noltei nitrogen content and lowered C:N, fibre, and phenolics, but had no effect on structural traits. Overall, our findings help to better understand the trait-mediated seagrass susceptibility to mesograzers and reinforce the increasingly recognized role of structural defences against herbivory.
Related Links	http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0156848
Starting Page	156848
File Format	PDF
ISSN	19326203
e-ISSN	19326203
Journal	PLoS ONE
Issue Number	6
Volume Number	11
Language	English
Publisher	Public Library of Science
Publisher Date	2016-06-01
Access Restriction	Open
Rights Holder	Public Library of Science
Subject Keyword	Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology(all) Agricultural and Biological Sciences(all) Medicine(all) Research in Higher Education
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Multidisciplinary

Sl.	Authority	Responsibilities	Communication Details
1	Ministry of Education (GoI), Department of Higher Education	Sanctioning Authority	https://www.education.gov.in/ict-initiatives
2	Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	Host Institute of the Project: The host institute of the project is responsible for providing infrastructure support and hosting the project	https://www.iitkgp.ac.in
3	National Digital Library of India Office, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur	The administrative and infrastructural headquarters of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in
4	Project PI / Joint PI	Principal Investigator and Joint Principal Investigators of the project	Dr. B. Sutradhar bsutra@ndl.gov.in Prof. Saswat Chakrabarti will be added soon
5	Website/Portal (Helpdesk)	Queries regarding NDLI and its services	support@ndl.gov.in
6	Contents and Copyright Issues	Queries related to content curation and copyright issues	content@ndl.gov.in
7	National Digital Library of India Club (NDLI Club)	Queries related to NDLI Club formation, support, user awareness program, seminar/symposium, collaboration, social media, promotion, and outreach	clubsupport@ndl.gov.in
8	Digital Preservation Centre (DPC)	Assistance with digitizing and archiving copyright-free printed books	dpc@ndl.gov.in
9	IDR Setup or Support	Queries related to establishment and support of Institutional Digital Repository (IDR) and IDR workshops	idr@ndl.gov.in

The Role of Species Traits in Mediating Functional Recovery during Matrix Restoration

Physiological and Morphological Responses of the Temperate Seagrass Zostera muelleri to Multiple Stressors: Investigating the Interactive Effects of Light and Temperature

De Novo Assembly and Characterization of the Transcriptome of Seagrass Zostera marina Using Illumina Paired-End Sequencing

Phylogeny as a Proxy for Ecology in Seagrass Amphipods: Which Traits Are Most Conserved?

Age-Dependent Astroglial Vulnerability to Hypoxia and Glutamate: The Role for Erythropoietin

Mediating Role of Activity Level in the Depressive Realism Effect

The Role of Sexual Selection and Conflict in Mediating Among-Population Variation in Mating Strategies and Sexually Dimorphic Traits in Sepsis punctum

The Role of Protein Interactions in Mediating Essentiality and Synthetic Lethality

The Dorsolateral Periaqueductal Gray and Its Role in Mediating Fear Learning to Life Threatening Events

The Role of Seagrass Traits in Mediating Zostera noltei Vulnerability to Mesograzers

Similar Documents

The Role of Species Traits in Mediating Functional Recovery during Matrix Restoration

Physiological and Morphological Responses of the Temperate Seagrass Zostera muelleri to Multiple Stressors: Investigating the Interactive Effects of Light and Temperature

De Novo Assembly and Characterization of the Transcriptome of Seagrass Zostera marina Using Illumina Paired-End Sequencing

Phylogeny as a Proxy for Ecology in Seagrass Amphipods: Which Traits Are Most Conserved?

Age-Dependent Astroglial Vulnerability to Hypoxia and Glutamate: The Role for Erythropoietin

Mediating Role of Activity Level in the Depressive Realism Effect

The Role of Sexual Selection and Conflict in Mediating Among-Population Variation in Mating Strategies and Sexually Dimorphic Traits in Sepsis punctum

The Role of Protein Interactions in Mediating Essentiality and Synthetic Lethality

The Dorsolateral Periaqueductal Gray and Its Role in Mediating Fear Learning to Life Threatening Events

The Role of Seagrass Traits in Mediating Zostera noltei Vulnerability to Mesograzers