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Green Planet > Plant-Animal Interactions > Flashcards

Plant-Animal Interactions Flashcards

1
Q

Types of interactions

A
  • Herbivory
  • Protection against herbivores
  • Pollination
  • Seed dispersal
  • Plant carnivory
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2
Q

What is the estimated value of pollination?

A

$168.75 billion in 2009

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3
Q

What is pollination?

A

Pollen movement from anther to stigma

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4
Q

What is the other name for wind pollination

A

Anemophily

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5
Q

What is insect pollination called?

A

Entomophily

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6
Q

Features of wind pollination

A

Abiotic
Gymnosperms and some flowering plants (grasses, trees) use wind pollination
Flowers are small and grouped together
Not very efficient method (chancy and wasteful)

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7
Q

Biotic pollination

A 
Animal pollination
Usually a mutualism
Insects - bees, wasps, butterflies
Birds - hummingbirds, honey creepers
Mammals - monkeys, bats, mice
Other - slugs, reptiles, frogs
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8
Q

What is floral advertising?

A

Advert requires that there is a signal that animals can detect
And there must be a reward for learning to detect the signal
Different animals have different senses so signalling must vary

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9
Q

Different pigments produced by plants for flower colour

A

Carotenoids
Flavonoids: flavonols and anthocyanins
Bilirubin
Betalains

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10
Q

Carotenoids

A 
Found in daffodils
Important in photosynthesis
Can help dissipate excess light (photoprotective)
Amount of carotenoid determines colour
Found in flowers and fruits
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11
Q

Flavonoids

A

Flavonols and anthocyanins
Usually synthesised and stored in vacuoles
Host of different functions
Importance in defence against pathogens
Part of signalling pathway in rhizobia
Protect against high levels of UV by producing antioxidants (anthocyanin)
Also can form complexes with metal ions and help plants survive in metal-contaminated soil

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12
Q

Colour of anthocyanins

A

Vivid red and oranges

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13
Q

Colour of flavonols

A

Mainly reflect UV, so cannot be seen by humans but important for insect/bird pollinators
Can act as a colourless co-factor (contributes to flower colour by stabilising anthocyanins or other pigments in the flower

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14
Q

Bilirubin

A

Bluish colour of bruises (metal-based pigment)

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15
Q

Betalains

A

Colour of deep red beetroot

Found in some cacti species

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16
Q

Shape of cells on petals

A

Difference between conical cells or flat cells on surface of petal changes colour of petal

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17
Q

What colours can a bee see

A

UV, blue and green photoreceptors (trichromatic)

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18
Q

Flower that uses echolocation

A

Marcgravia evenia
Disc-shaped leaf
Ring of flowers, shedding pollen
Cup-like nectaries

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19
Q

What else is a tactical cue to bees besides colour?

A

Flower petal microtexture

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20
Q

Co-evolution in animal-plant interaction

A
  1. Plants evolve elaborate methods to attract animal pollinators
  2. Animals evolved specialised body parts and behaviours that aid interaction with flowers
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21
Q

False floral advertising example

A

Orchid Chiloglottis trapeziformis deceives male Neozeleboria cryptoides wasps into thinking they are mating with a females
Chiloglottone js the active component that is produced by the orchid and female wasps

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22
Q

Pollinator syndromes

A 
Pollination by beetles: cantharophily
Pollination by bats: chiropterogamy
Pollination by water: hydrophily
Pollination by bees: melittophily
Pollination by ants: myrmecophily
Pollination by birds: ornithogamy
Pollination by butterflies: pyschophily
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23
Q

Pollination by bees

A

Melittophily
They live on the nectar and feed larvae the pollen
Guided by sight, smell and touch
Flowers predominantly pollinated by bees usually have landing platforms
Radially symmetric / zygomorphic
Flowers are yellow or blue with UV nectar guides

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24
Q

Pollination by birds

A 
Ornithogamy
They live on the nectar
Large orange or red tubular flowers
Dilute nectar secreted during the day
Usually odourless
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25
Q

What are special ways in which bees collect rewards from plants?

A

Buzz-pollination

Oil-harvesting

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26
Q

What other rewards besides nectar do plants offer insects?

A

Pollen, oil or wax
Nursery / brood-site
Heat - metabolic reward

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27
Q

Cheating by pollinators

A

Pollinators can cheat the flower and rob nectar without carrying out pollination

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28
Q

Plant mimicry

A

False advertising: flowers of unrewarding orchid Disa nervosa mimic rewarding flowers of iris Watsonia densiflora
Some flowers mimic insect shape and colouring e.g. Ophrys speculum pollinated by Campsoscolia ciliata

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29
Q

What are perfect flowers?

A

Have both male and female parts in them

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30
Q

Inbreeding depression example

A

Unfavourable effects come from inbreeding

E.g. Banksia spinulosa selfing led to a 63% reduction in seed set

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31
Q

What can self-pollination lead to?

A

Reduction in seed size, fruit set, fruit quality

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32
Q

Methods to prevent inbreeding and ensure outcrossing

A
  • Timing of flowering
  • Morphological differences
  • Biochemical
  • Developmental
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33
Q

Pollen-pistil interaction prior to fertilisation

A
  1. Pollen capture
  2. Pollen adhesion
  3. Pollen hydration
  4. Pollen germination
  5. Pollen tube penetration of the stigma
  6. Growth of pollen tube towards the ovule
  7. Entry of pollen tube into the ovule leading to fertilisation
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34
Q

The S locus

A

SI is controller by a single locus, S, with multiple alleles, S(1), S(2), S(3), etc.
The S locus is highly polymorphic: populations maintain around 40 S alleles by negative frequency-dependent selection

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35
Q

Summary of double fertilisation events

A
  1. Pollen tube penetrates synergid and released sperm nuclei; the tube nucleus degenerates
  2. One sperm fuses with the egg to form a diploid zygote
  3. Second sperm fuses with the two polar nuclei to form a triploid endosperm, which nourishes the developing embryo sporophyte
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36
Q

The endosperm

A

Following fertilisation the triploid endosperm nucleus divides repeatedly to form a mass of protoplasm and nuclei without cell division and acquiring nutrients from the sporophyte. As the seed matures the endosperm undergoes cellularisation.
Food resources are thus only laid down in an ovule/seed after fertilisation

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37
Q

What is a fruit?

A

A structure formed from parts of the flower or influorescence that contains the seeds
Ovary = fruit
Ovule = seed

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38
Q

What percentage of human food comes from seeds

A

70%

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39
Q

Pre-dispersal hazards

A
  1. Incomplete pollination
  2. Self pollination (eg. by geitonogamy) leading to ovule abortion or incomplete fruit set
  3. Resource limitation or stress leading to ovule abortion or incomplete fruit set
  4. Pre-dispersal seed predation
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40
Q

What is a fuses carpel-like structure containing many ovules called?

A

A pistil

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41
Q

How does pollination affect fruit set?

A
  1. Sufficient pollen important for well formed fruits
  2. Outcrossing appears to be important for fruit quality and longevity (Klatt et al., 2013)
  3. Low quality fruit may be aborted
42
Q

Resource limitation

A

Fruits/seed produced late in the season often have reduced size due to competition for resources. This can be made worse by additional stresses (temperature, water, disease) impacting on resource availability

43
Q

Pre-dispersal predation

A
  • Florivory

- Insects lay eggs on flower bud

44
Q

What is a florivore?

A

Eats mainly the products of flowers

45
Q

Geitonogamy definition

A

The fertilisation of a flower by pollen from another flower on the same plant

46
Q

Methods of seed dispersal

A
  1. Wind
  2. Water
  3. Explosive
  4. Animals transportation
47
Q

Seed dispersal by wind examples

A
  1. Dust seeds
  2. Plumed/woolly propagules
  3. Plane winged propagules
  4. Seed-carrying tumbleweeds
48
Q

Seed dispersal by water

A

Traits enabling flotation: air pockets, spongy mesophyll, oils and lipids
Common in plant propagules (40% of British fruits and seeds float for more than a week)

49
Q

Example of plant with explosive seed dispersal

A

Himalayan balsam

50
Q

3 methods of seed dispersal by animals

A
  1. Immediate ingestion at source, transportation in gut
  2. Deliberate removal to another site, with the intention of investing some/all of propagule later
  3. Inadvertent removal on outside of animal body - seed designed to stick to skin/fur of animal
51
Q

How do ants move propagules to new locations?

A

Myrmecochory - seed dispersal by ants
Seed coated in elaiosomes - may have scent of decomposing insects which attracts ants
Ants collect the seed and take it back to the ant nest, where they feed on the elaiosome coat and dispose of the seed outside of the nest where it can germinate

52
Q

Immediate ingestion of seeds

A
  • Colour and scent guide animals to ripe fruit
  • Propagule size
  • Reward
53
Q

Chromoplast

A

A coloured plastid other than a chloroplast, usually with yellow or orange pigment

54
Q

Pigments in tomatoes

A

Colour changes from green to red in tomatoes
Due to accumulation of carotenoids in chromoplasts of tomatoes
Chlorophyll autofluoresces red, carotenoids autofluoresce green)

55
Q

Why does colour change also happen in flowers?

A

To show which flowers have been pollinated eg lantana

56
Q

Toxic secondary compounds in fruit: why are they there?

A
  • Provide foraging cues
  • Regulate timing of germination
  • Force dispersers to visit wider range of food sources
  • Alter rate of seed passage through gut
  • Toxic to seed predators
  • Defend against microbial seed pathogens
57
Q

What percentage of insect species are herbivorous?

A

50%

58
Q

Host plant specialisation: generalist

A
  • Polyphagous: wide range of host plants from different families
  • Uncommon
  • <10% of herbivorous insects feed on >3 different plant families
  • Most common in Orthoptera and Lepidoptera
59
Q

Host plant specialisation: specialist

A
  • Monophagous/oligophagous: one or few closely related host plant species
  • Very common
  • > 80% British herbivorous insects
  • Dominant in psyllids, aphids, leafminers, leafhoppers
60
Q

Example of species with divergence in leaf colour to camouflage in different habitats

A

Corydalis hemidicentra

61
Q

Example of convergence of two plant families in alpine screes

A 
Fritillaria delavayi (Liliaceae)
Saussurea quercifolia (Asteraceae)
62
Q

What causes many camouflaged leaf colours?

example

A

Anthocyanins combined with other pigments eg. chlorophyll

E.g. Corydalis hemicentra

63
Q

Example of achieving camouflage without anthocyanins

A

Scarious bracts of Monotropsis odorata

Silky-lanate hairs covering Saussurea medusa

64
Q

Example of imitation of leaf-mining damage

A

Leaves of Caladium steudneriifolium eaten by leaf-mining moth larvae, which leaves white marks across them
Plain leaves produce patterns (variegation) mimicking the presence of leaf-mining larvae so other insects will lose interest

65
Q

Categories of plant resistance

A 
Direct: negative effect on herbivores
Indirect: positive effect on predators/parasites
Constitutive: permanent resistance
Induced: response to herbivory
Mechanical / chemical
66
Q

Mechanical resistance: leaf toughness

A
  • Cell walls reinforced with cellulose, lignin, suberin, callose
  • Sclerenchyma: fibres and scleroids
  • SiO2 crystals: abrasive
67
Q

Mechanical resistance: leaf surface

A
  • Glabrous (smooth)
  • Glaucous (with epicuticular waxes)
  • Pubescent (hairy)
  • Glandular (with glandular trichomes)
68
Q

Leaf toughness study

A

Howlett et al. 2001

As leaf toughness (g) increases, % establishment of Tasmanian Eucalypt leaf beetle decreases

69
Q

Epicuticular was crystals

A

Slippery
Mixed effects
Studies show both increased and decreased resistance
Ensikat et al., 2011

70
Q

Mechanical resistance: trichomes

A

Impede movement and act as barrier, or increase attachment
Hooked or glandular trichomes can trap and kill insects
Mixed effects - studies show both increased and decreased resistance

71
Q

What percentage of all known natural compounds have a botanical origin?

A

> 80%

72
Q

Chemical resistance: mode of action - quantitative

A
  • Digestibility-reducing
  • Dose-dependent effect
  • 5-40% of dry plant weight
  • E.g. tannins, lignin, cellulose
73
Q

Chemical resistance: mode of action - qualitative

A
  • Toxic
  • Dose-independent
  • <2% plant dry weight
  • E.g. alkaloids, terpenoids, toxic amino acids
74
Q

Example of specialist evolving to utilise toxins

A

Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) sequester cardiac glycosides from milkweeds (Asclepias) as a protection against predatory birds

75
Q

Stages of defence from herbivore attack

A

Local wound response (Jasmonic acid mediated)
Volatile release
Predator/parasitic attraction
Within- or between- plant signalling

76
Q

Between plant signalling

A

Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) can lead to several effects:

  • Direct defence with toxic and repellant effects
  • Indirect defence by attracting natural enemies of herbivores
  • Signals that provide information on imminent insect attack to undamaged plant tissues
  • Signals that provide information on imminent insect attack to neighbouring plants
  • Upon perception of certain HIPVs, neighbouring plants prepare for attack, a phenomenon called PRIMING
77
Q

Advantages of ants over other plant defenders

A

Abundant
Aggressive
Social

78
Q

What is the name for using ants as defenders / ‘ant love’ ?

Description

A

Myrmecophily
Facultative, non-symbiotic mutualism
Extrafloral nectar (EFN) attracts ants

79
Q

Advantages for the plant of myrmecophily

A
  • Extrafloral nectar or volatile release can be timed according to need
  • EFN is cheaper and easier to produce than toxins
  • Toxins problematic for floral defence
  • Potentially more difficult for herbivores to evolve immunity to ants or parasitoids than to toxins
80
Q

Arms race example

A

Passiflora / heliconiine race
Morphological adaptations of Passiflora species against herbivory
Morphological adaptations of Passiflora species against herbivory:
-Egg-mimic structures on stipules of Passiflora davidii
-Extrafloral nectaries of Passiflora coriacea
-Hooked trichomes of Passiflora lobata
-Trichomes on reticulate bracts, leaves and stem of Passiflora foetida
-Variegated leaf of Passiflora coriacea
Adaptations of Heliconiine against Passiflora defences:
-Gregarious behaviour
-Long spikes
-High visual accuracy
-Inspections pre-oviposition
-Gustatory receptors on female legs
-Odourant receptors on antenna
-Wrap trichomes in silk
-Eat tips of trichomes

81
Q

Services provided by ants and other insects

A 
Protection against herbivores
Pollination
Seed dispersal
Nutrient supply
Protection against plant competitors
82
Q

Name for seed dispersal by ants

A

Myrmecochory
Diffuse mutualism
Ants eat elaiosomes (lipid-rich)

83
Q

Ant gardens

A

Complex mutualism involving one or more ant species, a host tree (phorophyte) and one or more ant-dispersed epiphytes

84
Q

Ant plants

A

Myrmecophytes
Symbiosis - ants live permanently on plant
Plant provides nesting space: domatia
Plant provides food: EFN, coccids, food bodies
Ants provide defence and nutrition

85
Q

Types of domatia

A

Hollow leaves
Hollow internodes
Chambered tubers
Hollow rhizomes

86
Q

Food bodies for ants

A

Lipid- or protein-rich so costly
Limited to nutrient-rich habitats
Production can be stimulated by presence of ants

87
Q

Types of food bodies

A
  • Belgian body - Acacia
  • Beccarian body - Macaranga
  • Müllerian body - Cecropia
  • Pearl body - Ochroma
88
Q

How can the plant protect ants?

A

Mechanical barriers such as slippery wax crystals protect partner ants from competitors

89
Q

How do ants protect plants?

A

Prune viruses

Defend against herbivory

90
Q

What ant protects Macaranga plant?

A

Crematogaster

91
Q

Why must carnivorous plants capture insects?

A

They live in nutrient-poor environments and need N and P

92
Q

Definitions of carnivorous plant

A

Must attract prey
Must trap prey
Must digest prey
Must benefit from trapped and digested prey

93
Q

Pitcher plant genus name and prey attraction

A

Nepenthes

  • Nectar produced above trap
  • Colour (UV) signal from the peristome to attract insects
  • Odour produces scent that is attractive to insects
94
Q

Passive traps

A
  • No intrinsic movement

- Employ physical barriers, slippery surfaces and glues

95
Q

How does Nepenthes trap insects?

A 
Insects slip on peristome (hierarchical ridge structure) 
-Ridges provides capillarity
-Steps provide directionality
Peristome traps activated by wetness
Drown in the fluid
96
Q

How does Dewy pine trap insects?

A

Drosophyllum lusitanicum

Sticky flypaper traps

97
Q

Insect adhesion

A
  • Adhesive pad: smooth surfaces

- Claws: rough surfaces

98
Q

Active traps

A

Employ movement
Physiological activation
Trigger mechanism

99
Q

Venus fly trap (active trap)

A

Dionaea muscipula
Prey attraction: red colour, nectar glands
Trigger hairs: 3 per lobe, contain mechanosensory ion channels

100
Q

Process of trap activation in venus fly trap

A

Touch stimulus - mechanosensory ion channels open - Ca2+ influx - receptor potential - action potential - aquaporin opening / water transport - change in hydrostatic pressure initiates movements - geometry-driven snap-buckling completes movement

101
Q

Retention of captured prey

A

Wax crystals

Pitcher fluid

102
Q

Carnivory or defence?

A

Passiflora foetida
Uses sticky hairs/glands as a form of defence
Herbivorous insects taking a bit either get stuck or get their mouthparts stuck together
Carnivorous plant traits originated in plant defence traits

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