Abstract
Biomass removal by herbivores usually incurs a fitness cost for the attacked plants, with the total cost per unit lost tissue depending on the value of the removed tissue (i.e., how costly it is to be replaced by regrowth). Optimal defense theory, first outlined in the 1960s and 1970s, predicted that these fitness costs result in an arms race between plants and herbivores, in which selection favors resistance strategies that either repel herbivores through morphological and chemical resistance traits in order to reduce their consumption, or result in enemy escape through rapid growth or by timing the growth or flowering to the periods when herbivores are absent. Such resistance against herbivores would most likely evolve when herbivores are abundant, cause extensive damage, and consume valuable plant tissues. The purpose of this Special Feature is to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the phenomenon of overcompensation, specifically, where the finding has brought us and where it is leading us 30 yr later. We first provide a short overview of how the phenomenon of overcompensation has led to broader studies on plant tolerance to herbivory, summarize key findings, and then discuss some promising new directions in light of six featured research papers.
Highlights
Numerous observational and experimental ecological studies have demonstrated the costs of herbivory on plant growth or reproduction, costs do not appear to be a universal rule
Approach using quantitative trait locus mapping and microarray analysis uncovered a gene, glucose-6-phosphate-1-dehydrogenase (G6PD1, At5 g35790.1), that plays a major role in controlling tolerance in Arabidopsis thaliana
Three different T-DNA insertion lines used in a G6PD1 knockout study in the Arabidopsis Columbia-4 background displayed patterns of equal compensation, with a trend toward undercompensation, in contrast to overcompensation, as observed in wild-type Columbia following experimental clipping
Summary
Numerous observational and experimental ecological studies have demonstrated the costs of herbivory on plant growth or reproduction, costs do not appear to be a universal rule. A debate over the potential advantages of grazing for plants began in the 1980s and was further fueled by the intriguing observation that in an Arizona population of the biennial herb scarlet gilia (Ipomopsis aggregata), browsed plants branched vigorously and produced a greater number of fruits and viable seeds than unbranched, intact plants (Paige and Whitham 1987). The latter observation was striking because it demonstrated overcompensation to be an unambiguous fitness parameter in a monocarpic plant. Editors’ Note: Papers in Special Features are published individually and will be linked online in a virtual table of contents at: www.wiley.com/go/ecologyjournal
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