Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42452296›Full record

ReviewPlants (Basel, Switzerland)2026

Extrafloral Nectaries in Woody Plants: Toward an Integrated Framework for Ant-Mediated Plant Defense.

Fangming Liu, Qifei Cai, Victor Busov, Zhen Liu

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Plants (Basel, Switzerland), 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing 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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

4 authors.

Fangming LiuHenan Province Engineering Technology Research Center for Idesia, Zhengzhou 450046, China.ORCID 0009-0000-4103-7553
Qifei CaiHenan Province Engineering Technology Research Center for Idesia, Zhengzhou 450046, China.ORCID 0000-0001-6766-7406
Victor BusovCollege of Forest Resources and Environmental Science, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI 49931, USA.
Zhen LiuHenan Province Engineering Technology Research Center for Idesia, Zhengzhou 450046, China.

Funding

Education Department of Henan Province 25CY017Henan Provincial Forestry Administration 32030008State Forestry and Grassland Administration GTH[2026]02
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Extrafloral nectaries (EFNs)-secretory structures that recruit predatory arthropods as indirect defenders against herbivory-have been studied almost exclusively in herbaceous systems, leaving a critical gap in our understanding of plant defense in woody plants. In trees, secondary growth, ontogenetic regulation, and seasonal phenology generate structural and temporal heterogeneity in EFN expression poorly captured by existing frameworks. We synthesize evidence across structural, chemical, and functional dimensions of EFN biology to develop an integrated framework for perennial trees. Our analysis suggests that methodological limitations in EFN detection likely bias the current chemical record of woody EFNs, while incomplete chemical characterization constrains the evaluation of their ecological functions. Existing evidence confirms that herbivory-inducible EFN secretion and ant-mediated defense operate in trees, but their generality across ontogenetic stages, seasons, and woody lineages remains unresolved. We propose

Indexed as

ant-mediated plant defenseextrafloral nectariesIdesia polycarpamulti-trophic interactionsnectar chemistrywoody plant

Identifiers

PMID42452296
PMCPMC13363837

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.