Influence des interactions entre espèces végétales sur les relations plantes-pollinisateurs: cas de la compétition induite par la présence d'espèces anémophiles sur l'attractivité aux pollinisateurs d'espèces entomophiles Les traits d'attractivité aux pollinisateurs (fleurs et récompenses associées) d'espèces végétales entomophiles peuvent être sensibles aux variations de ressources dans le milieu (azote, phosphore). Puisque la compétition entre plantes peut modifier la disponibilité et la quantité de ces ressources, nous nous sommes intéressés à son effet sur les traits d'attractivité aux pollinisateurs, via la présence d'espèces végétales anémophiles. Nous avons démontré que la présence d'une espèce anémophile compétitive réduisait la production totale de fleurs, la vitrine florale et la quantité totale de sucre allouée au nectar chez une espèce entomophile. Cette diminution est d'autant plus forte que l'espèce anémophile est compétitive. En étudiant les visites de pollinisateurs sur une espèce entomophile en compétition avec une espèce anémophile, nous avons pu observer une diminution du nombre de visites, en relation avec une diminution de la production totale de fleurs et de la vitrine florale. Ainsi, bien que n'interagissant pas directement avec les pollinisateurs, les espèces anémophiles peuvent moduler les interactions plantes-pollinisateurs via des relations de compétition. Cette thèse soulève de nouvelles perspectives pour l'étude des réseaux plantes-pollinisateurs, qui se focalisent généralement sur les plantes entomophiles, en les ouvrants à l'ensemble de la communauté végétale. / Attractiveness traits of insect-pollinated plants to pollinators (i.e. flowers and associated rewards) can be sensitive to variations of resources (e.g. nitrogen, phosphorous). As competition between plants can modify resource availability, we studied its effect on insect-pollinated plants and their floral traits involved in attractiveness to pollinators, especially in presence of wind-pollinated plants. We showed that the presence of a competitive wind-pollinated species could reduce total flower production, floral display size and total sucrose allocated to nectar of insect-pollinated species. Especially, the stronger the competitor, the stronger is the effect on floral traits. The study of wild pollinators’ visits on an insect-pollinated plant in competition with a wind-pollinated plant revealed a decrease in the number of visits associated to the decrease of floral display size and total flower production. Therefore, even though they do not interact directly with pollinators, wind-pollinated plant species can modulate plant-pollinator interactions through competitive interactions. This thesis raises new perspectives for the study of plant-pollinator networks, which are generally focused on insect-pollinated plants, by opening them up to the whole plant community.

Understanding the biotic factors influencing invasive plant performance is essential for managing invaded land and preventing further exotic establishment and spread. I studied how competition between both conspecifics and native co-habitants and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) impacted the success of the invasive bunchgrass Brachypodium sylvaticumin early growth stages. I examined whether invasive plants performed and competed differently when grown in soil containing AMF from adjacent invaded and noninvaded ranges in order to determine the contribution of AMF to both monoculture stability and spread of the invasive to noninvaded territory. I also directly manipulated common mycelial network (CMN) formation by AMF to determine hyphal network contribution to competitive interactions. I found that invasive plants performed most poorly (as indicated by decreased chlorophyll content, size and shoot dry mass) in invaded range soil against conspecifics. This could be two-pronged evidence for existing biotic pressure on the invasives to expand into adjacent noninvaded ranges. I also found a negative effect of AMF colonization and invasive plant performance, potentially indicating deleterious plant-soil feedbacks which could help maintain plant biodiversity at a community level. CMN effects were found to be interactive with root competition and directly affected the performance and nutrient status of B. sylvaticum. Although no direct correlations between AMF colonization levels and competition were found, CMN presence contributed significantly to plant growth and nutrient status. Therefore AMF, through infection and CMN formation, may be able to influence invasive plant growth and spread in the field.

Canada thistle is an aggressive perennial weed throughout temperate areas for both the northern and southern hemisphere. As various single tactics have shown limited success in controlling this weed, I believe that a combination of different stress factors is necessary for effective sustainable control of Canada thistle. This study evaluates the competitive abilities of tall fescue grass and crownvetch in conjunction with a thistle feeding insect for Canada thistle control. The goal of the study was to determine what levels of the herbivore and plant competition are needed to suppress Canada thistle. Field studies were conducted to determine the effects of multiple stresses caused by defoliation and plant competition on growth and survival of Canada thistle (<i>Cirsium arvense</i> Scop.). Plant competition was from a cornbination of tall fescue (<i>Festuca arundinaceae</i> Schreb.) and crownvetch (<i>Coronilla varia</i> L). Artificial defoliation was used to determine the influence of level and frequency of defoliation in combination with plant competition on Canada thistle. The effects of various densities of a defoliator, <i>Cassida rubiginosa</i> (Coleop:Chrysonlelidae), in the presence and absence of plant competition were also determined. A three-season study determined the combined effects of <i>C. rubiginosa</i> and plant competitors at various densities on the growth and productivity of Canada thistle plantings of various ages. / Ph. D.

Competition for resources and other interference from non-crop vegetation often limits the productivity of pine and pine-hardwood forest stands in the southern United States. However, forest researchers have yet to fully quantify the effect of this interference on forest tree yield and there is an incomplete understanding of the biological mechanisms of interference. To better quantify the effects of interference interactions and elucidate their mechanisms, a field replacement series experiment and two supporting greenhouse experiments were carried out using loblolly pine (Pinus taeda L.), red maple (Acer rubrum L.), black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.), and herbaceous vegetation. Interference between pine. hardwood species, and herbaceous vegetation significantly impacted the growth and yield of young experimental pine-hardwood stands. While herbaceous vegetation significantly affected all stands. it reduced the yield of hardwood species more than loblolly pine. Loblolly pine appeared to ameliorate the effect of herbaceous vegetation on hardwoods in some stands. Interference outcomes were site- and scale-dependent. In field stands, synergistic adjustment in total yield due to pine-hardwood interference was not observed, except for loblolly pine-black locust mixtures on lower site quality replicates. Hardwood species suppressed the growth of pine in seedling stands planted at very close spacing in greenhouse boxes, while the yield at age three of less densely-planted field stands was positively related to the proportion of pine in the stand. Close spacing increased the ability of wide-spreading hardwood crowns to overtop and restrict light availability to conically-shaped pine crowns. Interference outcomes were related to the interactive effect of light, soil moisture, and soil nitrogen resources on tree growth and competitive ability. If not overtopped by hardwoods, loblolly pine had high yields in mixtures with hardwoods and competed effectively for soil moisture and nitrogen through efficient use of these resources. Changes in allometric relationships were observed for tree species in response to interference including root-shoot ratios, crown dimensions, and specific leaf areas. Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), the principal herbaceous species in the field study, appeared to affect the physiology and yield of all species through allelopathy in a greenhouse experiment. suggesting that reduced yield in herbaceous plots may be due to direct chemical effects in addition to resource competition. / Ph. D.

<p>Tolerance to herbivory is the ability of plants to maintain fitness in spite of damage. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the genetic variation and expression of tolerance within species, determine whether and in what conditions tolerance has negative side-effects, and how tolerance is affected by different ecological factors. Tolerance is investigated with special focus on the effects of different damage types, competitive regimes, history of herbivory, and polyploidization in plants. Studies are conducted as a literature review and three experiments on two cruciferous species Raphanus raphanistrum and Cardamine pratensis.</p><p>In the tolerance experiments, plants are subjected to artificial damage solely, or in a combination with natural damage. A literature review was conducted in order to investigate the effects of damage method. We found that traits related to tolerance, such as growth and fitness were not as sensitive in regard to damage method as measures of induced chemical traits, or measures of secondary herbivory.</p><p>Genetic variation of tolerance was demonstrated within populations of R. raphanistrum and between subspecies of C. pratensis. In R. raphanistrum, traits involved in floral display and male fitness were positively associated with plant tolerance to herbivore damage. A potential cost of tolerance was demonstrated as a negative correlation between levels of tolerance in high and low competitive regimes. I found no evidence of other proposed costs of tolerance in terms of highly tolerant plants suffering of reduced fitness in the absence of herbivores or trade-offs in terms of a negative association between tolerance to apical and leaf damage, or between tolerance and competitive ability. In C. pratensis, higher ploidy level in plants involved higher levels of tolerance measured as clonal reproduction. Furthermore, populations exposed to higher levels of herbivory had better tolerance than populations exposed to lower levels of herbivory. In this thesis, I demonstrate evidence of different components for the evolution of tolerance in plants: genotypic variation, selective factors in terms of costs and ploidization, and selective agents in terms of changing environment or herbivore pressure.</p>

Graduation date: 1998

Tolerance to herbivory is the ability of plants to maintain fitness in spite of damage. The goal of this thesis is to investigate the genetic variation and expression of tolerance within species, determine whether and in what conditions tolerance has negative side-effects, and how tolerance is affected by different ecological factors. Tolerance is investigated with special focus on the effects of different damage types, competitive regimes, history of herbivory, and polyploidization in plants. Studies are conducted as a literature review and three experiments on two cruciferous species Raphanus raphanistrum and Cardamine pratensis. In the tolerance experiments, plants are subjected to artificial damage solely, or in a combination with natural damage. A literature review was conducted in order to investigate the effects of damage method. We found that traits related to tolerance, such as growth and fitness were not as sensitive in regard to damage method as measures of induced chemical traits, or measures of secondary herbivory. Genetic variation of tolerance was demonstrated within populations of R. raphanistrum and between subspecies of C. pratensis. In R. raphanistrum, traits involved in floral display and male fitness were positively associated with plant tolerance to herbivore damage. A potential cost of tolerance was demonstrated as a negative correlation between levels of tolerance in high and low competitive regimes. I found no evidence of other proposed costs of tolerance in terms of highly tolerant plants suffering of reduced fitness in the absence of herbivores or trade-offs in terms of a negative association between tolerance to apical and leaf damage, or between tolerance and competitive ability. In C. pratensis, higher ploidy level in plants involved higher levels of tolerance measured as clonal reproduction. Furthermore, populations exposed to higher levels of herbivory had better tolerance than populations exposed to lower levels of herbivory. In this thesis, I demonstrate evidence of different components for the evolution of tolerance in plants: genotypic variation, selective factors in terms of costs and ploidization, and selective agents in terms of changing environment or herbivore pressure.

No description available.

Diss. (sammanfattning). Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv., 2003. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Uppsala : Sveriges lantbruksuniv. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.