Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41502174›Full record

ArticleThe New phytologist2026

Variation in herbivore defense strategies among plant species differing in elevational distribution and the role of temperature in defense.

Thomas Dorey, Janisse Deluigi, Alessio Maccagni, Sergio Rasmann, Gaétan Glauser, Yvonne Willi

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The New phytologist, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Thomas DoreyPlant Ecology and Evolution, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1945-6193
Janisse DeluigiPlant Ecology and Evolution, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6547-4085
Alessio MaccagniPlant Ecology and Evolution, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4069-8936
Sergio RasmannFunctional Ecology, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3120-6226
Gaétan GlauserNeuchâtel Platform of Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Neuchâtel, 2000, Neuchâtel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0983-8614
Yvonne WilliPlant Ecology and Evolution, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, 4056, Basel, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7654-3261

Funding

Fondation Pierre Mercier pour la science, Pully, Switzerland
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Temperature influences the distribution and performance of both plants and insect herbivores. Consequently, plant-herbivore interactions are likely to vary across thermal gradients, which could affect the evolution of plant defense. Furthermore, temperature fluctuations may elicit immediate changes in defense. To study the evolutionary and ecological aspects of plant antiherbivore defense depending on temperature, we conducted a transplant experiment on a mountain slope involving 30 Brassicaceae species varying in elevational distribution. Additionally, we carried out a climate-chamber experiment on a subset of 12 species to assess the temperature dependence of constitutive and induced defenses. The transplant experiment revealed that species from higher elevations experienced less herbivory than those from lower elevations. The climate-chamber experiment demonstrated that high-elevation species mounted stronger induced defenses in physical properties of leaves and in phytochemical diversity. Plant responses to low temperature, compared to control temperature, were lower constitutive defense and increased defense induction limited to leaf toughness. By contrast, high temperature increased constitutive chemical defense and defense-induced leaf toughness. Results suggest higher herbivory resistance in high-elevation Brassicaceae species by the induced remodeling of chemical defense. Such defense indication may have been shaped by rare but hard-to-tolerate herbivory in the evolutionary past.

Indexed as

AltitudeBrassicaceaeHerbivoryPlant Defense Against HerbivoryTemperatureAnimalsInsectaPlant LeavesSpecies SpecificityBrassicaceaechemo‐diversityconstitutive and induced defensescountergradient variationelevational gradientherbaceous plantsinsect herbivorytemperature dependence

Identifiers

PMID41502174
PMCPMC12917448

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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.