TY - JOUR
T1 - Flight-Fecundity Trade-offs
T2 - A Possible Mechanistic Link in Plant–Herbivore–Pollinator Systems
AU - Davidowitz, Goggy
AU - Bronstein, Judith L.
AU - Tigreros, Natasha
N1 - Funding Information: We would like to thank Sarah Britton, Noah DeFino, and Austin Cruz and two reviewers for comments on earlier versions of the manuscript and NSF-IOS for funding this work. Funding Information: This work was supported by National Science Foundation (NSF-USA) grant IOS-2122282 to GD and NT. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 Davidowitz, Bronstein and Tigreros.
PY - 2022/4/25
Y1 - 2022/4/25
N2 - Plant–herbivore and plant–pollinator interactions are both well-studied, but largely independent of each other. It has become increasingly recognized, however, that pollination and herbivory interact extensively in nature, with consequences for plant fitness. Here, we explore the idea that trade-offs in investment in insect flight and reproduction may be a mechanistic link between pollination and herbivory. We first provide a general background on trade-offs between flight and fecundity in insects. We then focus on Lepidoptera; larvae are generally herbivores while most adults are pollinators, making them ideal to study these links. Increased allocation of resources to flight, we argue, potentially increases a Lepidopteran insect pollinator’s efficiency, resulting in higher plant fitness. In contrast, allocation of resources to reproduction in the same insect species reduces plant fitness, because it leads to an increase in herbivore population size. We examine the sequence of resource pools available to herbivorous Lepidopteran larvae (maternally provided nutrients to the eggs, as well as leaf tissue), and to adults (nectar and nuptial gifts provided by the males to the females), which potentially are pollinators. Last, we discuss how subsequent acquisition and allocation of resources from these pools may alter flight–fecundity trade-offs, with concomitant effects both on pollinator performance and the performance of larval herbivores in the next generation. Allocation decisions at different times during ontogeny translate into costs of herbivory and/or benefits of pollination for plants, mechanistically linking herbivory and pollination.
AB - Plant–herbivore and plant–pollinator interactions are both well-studied, but largely independent of each other. It has become increasingly recognized, however, that pollination and herbivory interact extensively in nature, with consequences for plant fitness. Here, we explore the idea that trade-offs in investment in insect flight and reproduction may be a mechanistic link between pollination and herbivory. We first provide a general background on trade-offs between flight and fecundity in insects. We then focus on Lepidoptera; larvae are generally herbivores while most adults are pollinators, making them ideal to study these links. Increased allocation of resources to flight, we argue, potentially increases a Lepidopteran insect pollinator’s efficiency, resulting in higher plant fitness. In contrast, allocation of resources to reproduction in the same insect species reduces plant fitness, because it leads to an increase in herbivore population size. We examine the sequence of resource pools available to herbivorous Lepidopteran larvae (maternally provided nutrients to the eggs, as well as leaf tissue), and to adults (nectar and nuptial gifts provided by the males to the females), which potentially are pollinators. Last, we discuss how subsequent acquisition and allocation of resources from these pools may alter flight–fecundity trade-offs, with concomitant effects both on pollinator performance and the performance of larval herbivores in the next generation. Allocation decisions at different times during ontogeny translate into costs of herbivory and/or benefits of pollination for plants, mechanistically linking herbivory and pollination.
KW - Lepidoptera
KW - herbivory
KW - nectar
KW - nuptial gift
KW - nutrient tradeoffs
KW - pollination
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85148628130&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85148628130&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpls.2022.843506
DO - 10.3389/fpls.2022.843506
M3 - Article
SN - 1664-462X
VL - 13
JO - Frontiers in Plant Science
JF - Frontiers in Plant Science
M1 - 843506
ER -