evolution of antiherbivore defenses and their contribution to species coexistence in the tropical tree genus Inga

• Published in: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS Vol. 106; no. 43; pp. 18073 - 18078
• Main Authors: Kursar, Thomas A, Dexter, Kyle G, Lokvam, John, Pennington, R. Toby, Richardson, James E, Weber, Marjorie G, Murakami, Eric T, Drake, Camilla, McGregor, Ruth, Coley, Phyllis D
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States National Academy of Sciences 27.10.2009; National Acad Sciences
• Series: Plant and Insect Biodiversity Special Feature
• Subjects: Animals; Ants; Ants - physiology; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; Biological Sciences; Biological taxonomies; Botany; chemical ecology; Chemicals; Chlorophyll - biosynthesis; Chlorophyll - chemistry; Coexistence; Differentiation; Evolution; Fabaceae; Fabaceae - chemistry; Fabaceae - genetics; Fabaceae - growth & development; Fabaceae - metabolism; Fitness; Food Chain; Forests; Formicidae; Herbivores; Inga; Inga (Fabaceae); Insect genetics; insect pests; Leaves; Molecular Sequence Data; Multivariate analysis; mutualism; Panama; Peru; pest resistance; Phenotypic traits; Phylogenetics; Phylogeny; phytophagous insects; Plant and Insect Biodiversity Special Feature; Plant diversity; Plant Leaves - chemistry; Plant Leaves - genetics; Plant Leaves - growth & development; Plant Leaves - metabolism; plant-insect relations; Plants; resistance mechanisms; secondary metabolites; Selection, Genetic; species diversity; Trees; Tropical environments; Tropical forests; Tropical rain forests; tropics; Peru; Panama

Plants and their herbivores constitute more than half of the organisms in tropical forests. Therefore, a better understanding of the evolution of plant defenses against their herbivores may be central for our understanding of tropical biodiversity. Here, we address the evolution of antiherbivore def...