Journal
SCIENCE
Volume 338, Issue 6103, Pages 113-116Publisher
AMER ASSOC ADVANCEMENT SCIENCE
DOI: 10.1126/science.1225977
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Funding
- University of Turku
- U.S. NSF [EAGER DEB-0950231]
- Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
- Government of Ontario
- Connaught Early Researcher Award
- NSF [DEB 0614406, DEB-0915409]
- Academy of Finland [258992]
- Direct For Biological Sciences
- Division Of Environmental Biology [1118783] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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Insect herbivores are hypothesized to be major factors affecting the ecology and evolution of plants. We tested this prediction by suppressing insects in replicated field populations of a native plant, Oenothera biennis, which reduced seed predation, altered interspecific competitive dynamics, and resulted in rapid evolutionary divergence. Comparative genotyping and phenotyping of nearly 12,000 O. biennis individuals revealed that in plots protected from insects, resistance to herbivores declined through time owing to changes in flowering time and lower defensive ellagitannins in fruits, whereas plant competitive ability increased. This independent real-time evolution of plant resistance and competitive ability in the field resulted from the relaxation of direct selective effects of insects on plant defense and through indirect effects due to reduced herbivory on plant competitors.
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