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Herbivory changes biomass allocation but does not induce resistance among ramets of an invasive plant

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Abstract

Inducible responses to herbivores can be either localized or spread systemically throughout a plant. The ways in which clonal plants integrate their response to herbivores among clonal ramets is not well understood. Yet, this is important to understand the impacts that herbivores may have on clonal plants. We conducted a factorial split-plot greenhouse experiment to determine whether resistance is induced among ramets and how biomass allocation changes among ramets following herbivore damage to one of them. We manipulated the presence of two herbivores, Pieris rapae and Trichoplusia ni, and the root connection of ramets of the clonal invasive weed, Lepidium draba. We found local inducible resistance on the ramet where an herbivore fed, but not in neighboring ramets. Biomass allocation shifted in response to herbivores. Feeding by the generalist caterpillar T. ni resulted in a greater belowground biomass relative to shoot biomass in the local plant, but only when the clonal connection was intact. In contrast, herbivores had little impact on the root mass fraction of neighboring ramets. Herbivory to the local ramet increased the regrowth of neighboring ramets that lacked clonal connection, a trend that was driven by the specialist herbivore P. rapae. Herbivores did not induce systemic resistance among ramets of L. draba, but herbivores, especially the specialist, did alter how neighboring ramets regrow after grazing or mowing. Our observations suggest that individual ramets have fairly autonomous responses to herbivores, and that coordination among ramets, when present, may happen via signals that do not depend on root connections.

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The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study will be made available through a USGS data release.

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Acknowledgements

The project was supported by a USDA AFRI Foundational Grant (2014-67013-21727) and a USFS FHP BCIP Grant (16-CA-054) to PJO and by the U.S. Geological Survey Invasive Species Program. Tatyana Rand provided valuable comments on an earlier draft of the manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government.

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Contributions

All authors conceived the study questions. ZQB, ISP and PJO designed and conducted the experiment. NMW reared plants for the study. ZQB and ISP analyzed the data and wrote the first draft. All authors contributed to later drafts.

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Correspondence to Ian S. Pearse.

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Handling Editor: Xoaquín Moreira.

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Becker, Z.Q., Ode, P.J., West, N.M. et al. Herbivory changes biomass allocation but does not induce resistance among ramets of an invasive plant. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 16, 297–307 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-022-09897-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-022-09897-x

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