Conflict of interest? Investigating the costs and benefits of herbivore defense using the model plant <i>Boechera stricta</i>
Abstract
Boechera stricta, a native forb common to the Rocky Mountain range in western North America, is a model species at the forefront of genetics and ecology. Over millennia, in response to herbivory, plants have developed secondary metabolite defensive compounds to deter wide ranges of herbivores. Glucosinolates represent one such type of compound produced by Brassicaceous plants. However glucosinolates may act as cues for oviposition for specialist herbivores and thus may lead to a conflict of interest for their host plant. This study focused on whether contrasting glucosinolate chemical profiles confer costs or benefits to overall fitness in relation to defense against specialist herbivores. I combined field observations from two separate studies to infer whether glucosinolate chemical profile influences specialist oviposition and feeding behavior, and if this behavior may result in selection for plant chemistry, thus influencing phenotypic diversity in defensive strategy. Overall, I found that there was no significant response in specialist oviposition or abundance based on chemical profile. However, in natural populations of B. stricta, plants on which Euchloe ausonides were present had significantly higher levels of herbivore damage to fruits than plants on which the specialist was absent. These results indicate that plants that attract specialist herbivores suffer a reproductive disadvantage, but that host plant chemical profile does not appear to influence that attraction. Factors influencing specialist herbivore oviposition, presence/absence, and abundance remain unknown.
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