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Specialists Are Better At Avoiding Predators
ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) — Insect herbivore species often specialize on the host plants that they eat, evolving adaptations to use a plant's unique set of resources. However, specialization doesn't come without costs.
See also:
Plants & Animals
* Nature
* Endangered Plants
* Wild Animals
Earth & Climate
* Rainforests
* Ecology
* Grassland
Reference
* Seed predation
* Herbivore
* Plant defense against being eaten
* Omnivore
"A lot of evolutionary ecologists have pondered the advantages of being a specialist, and there are presumably tradeoffs," says Michael Singer of Wesleyan University. "Specialists have a smaller resource base, but they might be better adapted to their niche."
Singer and his colleagues wondered if there could be other advantages to specialization than better utilization of host plants as food. Specialists might also be more adept than generalists, he postulated, at using their host plants for defense or refuge from predation, specifically by birds.
The team tested this idea by excluding birds from experimental plots in a temperate forest in Connecticut and surveying the density of generalist and specialist caterpillar species inside and outside the exclosures. In the exclosures, his team observed a surge in generalist density compared to natural areas. The number of specialists, however, only increased slightly. These results suggest that the bird predators were preferentially targeting generalists.
The difference is likely due to the specialists' ability to take better advantage of their host plants, says Singer. Many specialists use chemicals from their host plant's tissue to make themselves toxic. Others, like Singer's specialist caterpillars, might be more adept at camouflaging themselves by finding the best places to hide or to blend in.
Singer's experiment is the first to quantify bird predation on specialist and generalist herbivores, and he hopes it will spark further research. He says that the interactions among the three trophic levels – plants, herbivores and predators – are the key to understanding the species' ecology and evolution.
"Food webs are complex, and that complexity is fundamental to understanding ecological specialization and diversity in natural ecosystems," he says.
Animals and plants communicate with one another in a variety of ways: behavior, body patterns, and even chemistry. In a series of talks at the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting, to be held August 3-7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ecologists explore the myriad adaptations for exchanging information among living things.
Adapted from materials provided by Ecological Society of America, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
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Related Stories
Multiple New Species Of Fruit Flies With Overlapping Niches Discovered (May 21, 2008) — Evidence of physically similar species hidden within plant tissues suggest that diversity of neotropical herbivorous insects may not simply be a function of plant architecture, but may also reflect ... > read more
Why Do Insects Like To Eat Some Plants More Than Others? (Nov. 14, 2006) — Plant-insect ecologists typically attribute the differences to variation in the nutritional quality or defective chemistry of plant tissues. However, the researchers found that cactus-feeding insects ... > read more
Alarm Pheromone Causes Aphids To Sprout Wings (May 19, 2005) — When aphids are attacked by predators such as ladybird beetles, they release an alarm pheromone that has long been known to cause other aphids to walk around or drop from the plant. In a paper soon ... > read more
Milkweed's Evolutionary Approach To Caterpillars: Counter Appetite With Fast Repair (July 24, 2008) — The adage that your enemies know your weaknesses best is especially true in the case of plants and predators that have co-evolved: as the predators evolve new strategies for attack, plants counter ... > read more
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Science News
Share Blog Cite
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Specialists Are Better At Avoiding Predators
ScienceDaily (Aug. 20, 2009) — Insect herbivore species often specialize on the host plants that they eat, evolving adaptations to use a plant's unique set of resources. However, specialization doesn't come without costs.
See also:
Plants & Animals
* Nature
* Endangered Plants
* Wild Animals
Earth & Climate
* Rainforests
* Ecology
* Grassland
Reference
* Seed predation
* Herbivore
* Plant defense against being eaten
* Omnivore
"A lot of evolutionary ecologists have pondered the advantages of being a specialist, and there are presumably tradeoffs," says Michael Singer of Wesleyan University. "Specialists have a smaller resource base, but they might be better adapted to their niche."
Singer and his colleagues wondered if there could be other advantages to specialization than better utilization of host plants as food. Specialists might also be more adept than generalists, he postulated, at using their host plants for defense or refuge from predation, specifically by birds.
The team tested this idea by excluding birds from experimental plots in a temperate forest in Connecticut and surveying the density of generalist and specialist caterpillar species inside and outside the exclosures. In the exclosures, his team observed a surge in generalist density compared to natural areas. The number of specialists, however, only increased slightly. These results suggest that the bird predators were preferentially targeting generalists.
The difference is likely due to the specialists' ability to take better advantage of their host plants, says Singer. Many specialists use chemicals from their host plant's tissue to make themselves toxic. Others, like Singer's specialist caterpillars, might be more adept at camouflaging themselves by finding the best places to hide or to blend in.
Singer's experiment is the first to quantify bird predation on specialist and generalist herbivores, and he hopes it will spark further research. He says that the interactions among the three trophic levels – plants, herbivores and predators – are the key to understanding the species' ecology and evolution.
"Food webs are complex, and that complexity is fundamental to understanding ecological specialization and diversity in natural ecosystems," he says.
Animals and plants communicate with one another in a variety of ways: behavior, body patterns, and even chemistry. In a series of talks at the Ecological Society of America's annual meeting, to be held August 3-7 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ecologists explore the myriad adaptations for exchanging information among living things.
Adapted from materials provided by Ecological Society of America, via EurekAlert!, a service of AAAS.
Email or share this story:
| More
Need to cite this story in your essay, paper, or report? Use one of the following formats:
APA
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Related Stories
Multiple New Species Of Fruit Flies With Overlapping Niches Discovered (May 21, 2008) — Evidence of physically similar species hidden within plant tissues suggest that diversity of neotropical herbivorous insects may not simply be a function of plant architecture, but may also reflect ... > read more
Why Do Insects Like To Eat Some Plants More Than Others? (Nov. 14, 2006) — Plant-insect ecologists typically attribute the differences to variation in the nutritional quality or defective chemistry of plant tissues. However, the researchers found that cactus-feeding insects ... > read more
Alarm Pheromone Causes Aphids To Sprout Wings (May 19, 2005) — When aphids are attacked by predators such as ladybird beetles, they release an alarm pheromone that has long been known to cause other aphids to walk around or drop from the plant. In a paper soon ... > read more
Milkweed's Evolutionary Approach To Caterpillars: Counter Appetite With Fast Repair (July 24, 2008) — The adage that your enemies know your weaknesses best is especially true in the case of plants and predators that have co-evolved: as the predators evolve new strategies for attack, plants counter ... > read more
Search ScienceDaily
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Just In:
Lightning's Mirror Image ... Only Much Bigger
Using Light To Teach Magnets New Tricks
Microchip Does 1,000 Chemical Reactions At Once
Naming Evolution's Winners And Losers
Inner 'Fingerprint' For Personal Medical Care
Why Sleep? To Boost Efficiency, Minimize Risk
Ultrathin LEDs: New Class Of Displays
Oxycholesterol: Greatest Heart Disease Risk?
Science Video News
Name That Species
Extremophiles are microbes that have adapted to extreme environments, such as Utah's Great Salt Lake. But new microorganisms can be found in everyday. ... > full story
* Insect Ecologist Spearheads Creation of Oases for Endangered Butterflies
* Electrical Engineers Monitor Environment with Robotic Sensors
* Climatologists Forecast Completely New Climates
* more science videos
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* S.Korea seeks 4-year prison term for stem cell fraud
* Encyclopedia of Life grows; clues on ageing, pests
* Satellites put into orbit for Japan and Australia
* Scientists make "sugar bug" drug for bowel disease
* Gene swap experiment makes altering bugs easier
* more science news
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* Storm Bill loses steam in North Atlantic
* Fires near Athens recede after 3-day inferno
* Malaysian state to cane woman after Ramadan
* Justice Dept advises pursuing CIA abuses: report
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* Facebook to boost staff by 50% in 2009: report
* U.S. presses sanctions to end N.Korea atomic plans
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