Troublesome toxins: time to re-think plant-herbivore interactions in vertebrate ecology

Plant-herbivore interactions mediated by plant toxicity.

We explore the impact of plant toxicity on the dynamics of a plant-herbivore interaction, such as that of a mammalian browser and its plant forage species, by studying a mathematical model that includes a toxin-determined functional response. In this functional response, the traditional Holling Type 2 response is modified to include the negative effect of toxin on herbivore growth, which can ov...

Dynamics of a discrete-time plant-herbivore model

Recent advances in plant-herbivore interactions

Plant-herbivore interactions shape community dynamics across marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats. From amphipods to elephants and from algae to trees, plant-herbivore relationships are the crucial link generating animal biomass (and human societies) from mere sunlight. These interactions are, thus, pivotal to understanding the ecology and evolution of virtually any ecosystem. Here, we ...

The Chemical Ecology of Plant - Herbivore Interactions in Marine versus Terrestrial Corn rn u n it

VI. VII. VIII. I X . X. Thc Plants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372 Thc I tcrhivores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373 FwdinK Specificity of Marine versus Terrestrial llerbivores . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 375 (;raring Rates and Selection ...

Toxic cardenolides: chemical ecology and coevolution of specialized plant-herbivore interactions.

Cardenolides are remarkable steroidal toxins that have become model systems, critical in the development of theories for chemical ecology and coevolution. Because cardenolides inhibit the ubiquitous and essential animal enzyme Na⁺/K⁺-ATPase, most insects that feed on cardenolide-containing plants are highly specialized. With a huge diversity of chemical forms, these secondary metabolites are sp...