Question

Questions for an Ecology assignment. These questions are based on the article: Barbosa, Pedro, et al. "Associational resistance and associational susceptibility: having right or wrong neighbors." Annual review of ecology, evolution, and systematics 40 (2009): 1-20.

1. Describe an example the authors provided for a way that competition with a neighboring plant can alter its susceptibility to herbivores. Can you think of another instance in which competition between focal plants and neighbor plants might lead to either associational resistance (AR) or associational susceptibility (AS)? Or vice-versa-- herbivory can alter competitive interactions between plants as well! Please describe one case.

2. The meta-analysis found that diet breath (an insects’ degree of specialization) had little influence over the likelihood of AR or AS on plants (Figure 2c). However, their evaluation of ‘neighbor affects’ across generalists and specialists did not consider several potentially important interacting factors, including relative plant abundance and biomass of both the neighbor and focal plant, as well as taxonomic relatedness of the neighboring plant. How might these factors interact with herbivore diet breadth to alter a plants’ susceptibility? (choose one)

2.

Answer 1

• Associational resistance occurs when the herbivory isof plant decreased due to the neighbor heterospecific plant
• Associational susceptibility is the increase in herbivory of plant due to heterospecific plant in surroundings.
• Plant association is determine the detection and vulnerability of plants to herbivory.
• The Associational resistance (AR) mainly due to the mammals in the surroundings
• The Associational susceptibility is due to the insect in the surroundings.
• The competition between the neighboring plants will alter it's susceptibility to herbivory.

2)

• The insects show significant chance in AR and AS in plants but in certain case the diet breadth doesnot influence the likelihood of AR and AS .
• The diet breadth gives the measure of food taken by the herbivores when the area is tropical and the no.of insect is less the diet breadth will be different from non tropical for the same condition.