ArticleAnnals of botany2016
Which leaf mechanical traits correlate with insect herbivory among feeding guilds?
Article in Annals of botany, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 41 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
41 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Signaling defenses with color: a meta-analysis of leaf color variation, palatability, and herbivore damage.The New phytologist · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of Rust Fungus and Aphid Infestation on Plant Height and Seed Production ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Comparative demography of Tetranychus urticae on cotton varieties using the age-stage, two-sex life table approach.Experimental & applied acarology · 2026Article
- Rice resistance to lepidopteran herbivores is enhanced by overexpression of a key transcription factor gene for diterpenoid phytoalexin biosynthesis.Plant biotechnology (Tokyo, Japan) · 2026Article
- Sublethal effects of potato plant defenses induced via synthetic elicitors against the Colorado potato beetle (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae).Journal of insect science (Online) · 2026Article
- Resistance mechanisms in collard green genotypes to Plutella xylostella: role of physical and morphological traits.Pest management science · 2026Article
- Revisiting volatile organic compounds' role in plant communication using real-time bioimaging.Frontiers in plant science · 2026Article
- Biomechanical components of the plant-insect herbivore arms race: a model test in leaf-cutter ants.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2025Article
- Allelopathy and Identification of Allelochemicals in the Leaves ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Plant Functional Traits, but Not Community Composition, Are Affected by Summer Precipitation and Herbivory in an Old-Field Ecosystem.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Plant Functional Traits Better Explain the Global Latitudinal Patterns of Leaf Insect Herbivory than Climatic Factors.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Plant species richness promotes the decoupling of leaf and root defence traits while species-specific responses in physical and chemical defences are rare.The New phytologist · 2025Article
- Fertilization reduces aphid population growth but does not alter competitive exclusion between specialist and generalist species.PloS one · 2025Article
- Does ecology shape geographical parthenogenesis? Evidence from the facultatively parthenogenetic stick insectEcology and evolution · 2024Article
- The species, density, and intra-plant distribution of mites on red raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.).Experimental & applied acarology · 2024Article
- Silica and Selenium Nanoparticles Attract or Repel Scale Insects by Altering Physicochemical Leaf Traits.Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Artificial light at night decreases leaf herbivory in typical urban areas.Frontiers in plant science · 2024Article
- Vein network redundancy and mechanical resistance mitigate gas exchange losses under simulated herbivory in desert plants.AoB PLANTS · 2023Article
- Domestication provides durum wheat with protection from locust herbivory.Ecology and evolution · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
aimsThere is abundant evidence that leaf mechanical traits deter feeding by insect herbivores, but little is known about which particular traits contribute to defence across feeding guilds. We investigated the contribution of multiple mechanical traits from shear, punch and tear tests to herbivore deterrence across feeding guilds.
methodsVisible damage from miners and external chewers was measured and sucker feeding density estimated in mature leaves of 20 species of forest shrubs and small trees. Cafeteria trials were undertaken using a generalist chewer (larvae of Epiphyas postvittana, Lepidoptera). Damage was compared with leaf mechanical traits and associated nutrient and chemical defence traits. KEY
resultsDamage by external chewers in the field and by E. postvittana correlated negatively with mechanical traits. Hierarchical partitioning analysis indicated that the strongest independent contribution to chewing damage was by the material trait of specific work to shear, with 68 % of total variance explained by the combination of specific work to shear (alone explaining 54 %) and tannin activity in a regression model. Mining damage did not correlate with mechanical traits, probably because miners can avoid tissues that generate high strength and toughness in mature leaves. Mechanical traits correlated more strongly with chewing damage in the field than chemical defences (total phenolics and tannin activity) and nutrients (nitrogen and water), but nutrients correlated strongly with diet selection in the cafeteria trial. Surprisingly, sucker feeding density correlated positively with mechanical traits and negatively with nutrients.
conclusionsMechanical traits of mature leaves influenced insect feeding guilds differentially, reflecting differences in life history and feeding modes. For external chewers, energy (work) to fracture in shearing tests, at both structural and material levels, was strongly predictive of damage. Knowing which leaf mechanical traits influence insect feeding, and in which guilds, is important to our wider understanding of plant-herbivore interactions.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.