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Elevated CO 2 and herbivory influence trait integration in Arabidopsis thaliana
Author(s) -
Gabriela BidartBouzat M.,
Portnoy Stephen,
DeLucia Evan H.,
Paige Ken N.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00648.x
Subject(s) - plutella , diamondback moth , biology , herbivore , selfing , arabidopsis thaliana , trait , ecology , evolutionary ecology , larva , evolutionary biology , genetics , population , gene , demography , sociology , mutant , computer science , programming language , host (biology)
We lack information on how elevated CO 2 , and its interaction with other factors like herbivory, affect levels and patterns of trait integration in plants. We experimentally tested the hypothesis that elevated CO 2 disrupts and restructures functional associations among plant traits, in the selfing annual, Arabidopsis thaliana . We tested for these effects both in the presence and absence of herbivory by larvae of the diamondback moth, Plutella xylostella . Elevated CO 2 , both alone and combined with moth herbivory, modified integrated trait responses. In addition, integration under different environments was genotype‐specific. These results imply that global changes in CO 2 are likely to cause divergent evolutionary outcomes among populations of plants that differ in the initial structure of their quantitative genetic variation.