Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing

More accurate determination of leaf plasticity induced by the legacy effect of grazing and immediate ingestion can provide insights on growth–defense tradeoffs, and are of great importance to understanding valuable indicators for grassland management. Despite the ecological importance of leaf traits...

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Main Authors: Li, Xiliang, Png, Kenny Guochen, Li, Yuanheng, Jimoh, Saheed Olaide, Ding, Yong, Li, Fang, Sun, Shixian
Other Authors: Asian School of the Environment
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2021
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Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147583
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Institution: Nanyang Technological University
Language: English
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spelling sg-ntu-dr.10356-1475832023-02-28T16:41:19Z Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing Li, Xiliang Png, Kenny Guochen Li, Yuanheng Jimoh, Saheed Olaide Ding, Yong Li, Fang Sun, Shixian Asian School of the Environment Engineering::Environmental engineering Plant Ecophysiology Grazing Growth-defense Tradeoff More accurate determination of leaf plasticity induced by the legacy effect of grazing and immediate ingestion can provide insights on growth–defense tradeoffs, and are of great importance to understanding valuable indicators for grassland management. Despite the ecological importance of leaf traits, the effectiveness of leaf plasticity as a key physical anti-herbivore trait that may signal grazing disturbance has not yet been assessed. Here, we assessed leaf angle and related functional traits as indicators of the responses of palatable Leymus chinensis and less palatable Carex korshinskyi to five sheep grazing intensities during the early grazing season. Grazing significantly increases leaf angle, paralleled by a decrease in the sizes of both whole plants and leaves, with a stronger response by L. chinensis than C. korshinskyi. Leaf size and angle had higher positive and lower negative allometric slopes with plant size in L. chinensis compared to C. korshinskyi. This pattern reflects that the palatable species had relatively higher adaptability to grazing via stabilizing leaf area and anti-herbivore defense responses. Structural equation modeling shows that historical grazing contributes more than foraging in the current year to leaf plasticity, which is particularly evident in the less palatable species C. korshinskyi. The foraging proportion is positively correlated with the leaf angle for L. chinensis but not C. korshinskyi, suggesting that leaf plasticity can indicate selective foraging. Moreover, plasticity in leaf angle potentially influences net photosynthesis which manifests as a unimodal curve across the grazing intensities under a balance between the gross photosynthetic and respiratory rates. Thus, we demonstrate that palatability-dependent leaf plasticity can indicate selective foraging across grazing intensities, thereby contributing to plant anti-herbivore defense. Our results highlight that grazing legacy and immediate ingestion had a positive interaction effect on leaf traits. These findings show that grazing-induced leaf plasticity represents a key nexus between ecological mechanisms and grassland management. Published version 2021-04-14T05:04:33Z 2021-04-14T05:04:33Z 2020 Journal Article Li, X., Png, K. G., Li, Y., Jimoh, S. O., Ding, Y., Li, F. & Sun, S. (2020). Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing. Ecological Indicators, 122. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107273 1470-160X https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147583 10.1016/j.ecolind.2020.107273 2-s2.0-85098536052 122 en Ecological Indicators © 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). application/pdf
institution Nanyang Technological University
building NTU Library
continent Asia
country Singapore
Singapore
content_provider NTU Library
collection DR-NTU
language English
topic Engineering::Environmental engineering
Plant Ecophysiology
Grazing
Growth-defense Tradeoff
spellingShingle Engineering::Environmental engineering
Plant Ecophysiology
Grazing
Growth-defense Tradeoff
Li, Xiliang
Png, Kenny Guochen
Li, Yuanheng
Jimoh, Saheed Olaide
Ding, Yong
Li, Fang
Sun, Shixian
Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
description More accurate determination of leaf plasticity induced by the legacy effect of grazing and immediate ingestion can provide insights on growth–defense tradeoffs, and are of great importance to understanding valuable indicators for grassland management. Despite the ecological importance of leaf traits, the effectiveness of leaf plasticity as a key physical anti-herbivore trait that may signal grazing disturbance has not yet been assessed. Here, we assessed leaf angle and related functional traits as indicators of the responses of palatable Leymus chinensis and less palatable Carex korshinskyi to five sheep grazing intensities during the early grazing season. Grazing significantly increases leaf angle, paralleled by a decrease in the sizes of both whole plants and leaves, with a stronger response by L. chinensis than C. korshinskyi. Leaf size and angle had higher positive and lower negative allometric slopes with plant size in L. chinensis compared to C. korshinskyi. This pattern reflects that the palatable species had relatively higher adaptability to grazing via stabilizing leaf area and anti-herbivore defense responses. Structural equation modeling shows that historical grazing contributes more than foraging in the current year to leaf plasticity, which is particularly evident in the less palatable species C. korshinskyi. The foraging proportion is positively correlated with the leaf angle for L. chinensis but not C. korshinskyi, suggesting that leaf plasticity can indicate selective foraging. Moreover, plasticity in leaf angle potentially influences net photosynthesis which manifests as a unimodal curve across the grazing intensities under a balance between the gross photosynthetic and respiratory rates. Thus, we demonstrate that palatability-dependent leaf plasticity can indicate selective foraging across grazing intensities, thereby contributing to plant anti-herbivore defense. Our results highlight that grazing legacy and immediate ingestion had a positive interaction effect on leaf traits. These findings show that grazing-induced leaf plasticity represents a key nexus between ecological mechanisms and grassland management.
author2 Asian School of the Environment
author_facet Asian School of the Environment
Li, Xiliang
Png, Kenny Guochen
Li, Yuanheng
Jimoh, Saheed Olaide
Ding, Yong
Li, Fang
Sun, Shixian
format Article
author Li, Xiliang
Png, Kenny Guochen
Li, Yuanheng
Jimoh, Saheed Olaide
Ding, Yong
Li, Fang
Sun, Shixian
author_sort Li, Xiliang
title Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
title_short Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
title_full Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
title_fullStr Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
title_full_unstemmed Leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
title_sort leaf plasticity contributes to plant anti-herbivore defenses and indicates selective foraging : implications for sustainable grazing
publishDate 2021
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/147583
_version_ 1759856242252054528