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Populations of Delphinium occidentale (Ranunculaceae)were monitored over two summers for the presence and dispersion of various life stages of several host specific phytophagous insects. Observations were made at several sites in the Wasatch National Forest east of Logan, Utah. Two species of larkspur aphid (Aphis rociadae and Kakimia wahinkae) were encountered. Although dispersal of alate individuals resulted in widespread infestation of the host plant population, aphids occurred initially on the same one or few plants at each site both springs. Little coexistence of the two species of aphid on the same plant was observed, perhaps because they partitioned the host plant resource according to light intensity under the incomplete aspen canopy. Several species of lepidopteran larvae, of uncertain host specificity, were observed. Two species (Autographa californica and pyrrhia expremins: Noctuidae) are known from cultivated host plants. Eggs of an unidentified geometrid (Lepidoptera) were located on the host plants in large numbers and their dispersion was analysed. The eggs were distributed nonrandomly over the host plant population, but attempts to further characterize the pattern were fruitless. Parasitism of the eggs by an unidentified hymenopteran was observed. Mortality of all larvae was high. Successful migration of larvae was not observed. Mature larvae were not sufficiently abundant to permit statistical study of pattern. Mature fruits were examined at the end of the growing season for larkspur maggots (Hylemya laxifrons). Maggots were found in 85 percent of the inflorescences sampled. Pteromalids (Hymenoptera) were also found in an apparently parasitic relationship with the maggots in the fruits. Maggots were not found in the surviving fruits of inflorescences infested with either species of aphid. Suggestions are given for future work.

<p>I examined recruitment patterns of multiple tree species in a western Amazonian floodplain forest at three ontogenetic stages: seed fall, seedling establishment, and sapling recruitment.</p><p>From analyzing a long-term seed rain dataset collected using a high-density array of seed traps, I confirmed that seed fall decreases sharply with increasing distance from fruiting trees, with disproportionately large contributions from a very small fraction of all trees. Patterns of seed fall, although idiosyncratic for individual species, tended to relate to dispersal syndrome. Intact seeds were found at significantly greater distances away from fruiting adults than ripe fruit and almost exclusively comprised the tail of the seed shadow for most species.</p><p>Saplings of all species examined recruited in areas of very low predicted seed density at significantly higher abundances than expected under a null hypothesis of "all seeds are equal". The value of a seed in terms of its potential to produce a sapling recruit - measured as sapling/seed ratio - initially increased greatly with increasing distance from reproductive conspecific adults and leveled off at farther distances, in almost all species.</p><p>A parallel experimental study employed >1000 individual seedlings of common tree species situated near and far from conspecific adults. Overall survival for all species pooled and for eight out of 11 individual species was significantly higher at sites located far from versus close to conspecific adults, with the study design controlling for seedling density at sites. Survival analysis based on multiple censuses revealed that a "distance effect" persisted and intensified over time, although the timing of onset of distance-related differential mortality differed amongst species. The role of host-specific invertebrate herbivores and microbial pathogens in causing seedling mortality near conspecific adults was confirmed by the use of mesh exclosures. </p><p>Overall, my results provide community-level support for the influence of distance-dependent processes on recruitment patterns. Seed dispersal appears critical for successful recruitment and undispersed seeds make a minimal contribution. When de-coupled from distance-dependence, effects of competition-based density-dependent processes on recruitment were weak or undetectable. I conclude that community-level tree recruitment processes and patterns in western Amazonian lowland rainforests that harbor intact floral and faunal assemblages conform closely to predictions of the Janzen-Connell hypothesis of tropical tree recruitment.</p> / Dissertation

Der pilzliche Erreger der Schwarzen Sigatokakrankheit, Mycosphaerella fijiensis (Mf), befällt fast alle Sorten (cv) der angebauten Banane Musa sp. Dabei sind weder die Reaktionen der Wirtspflanzen gegenüber dem Pathogen noch dessen Pathogenität hinreichend charakterisiert. Eine besondere Bedeutung wurde für pilzliche Sekundärmetaboliten des Pentaketid-Biosyntheseweges als spezifische Toxine innerhalb des Pathosystems postuliert. Die vorliegende Arbeit hat die experimentelle Untersuchung der Wirt-Pathogeninteraktionen zur Zielsetzung und wendet Methoden der Gewebekultur und Chromatographie zur bio-chemischen und physiologischen Charakterisierung des pflanzlichen und pilzlichen Stoff-wechsels an. Bezüglich der pflanzlichen Abwehrmechanismen von resistenten Musa cv konnte eine hypersensitive Reaktion (HR), die Aktivierung des Enzyms PAL und die Anreicherung von post-infektionellen Substanzen zur Hemmung des Pilzwachstums nachgewiesen werden. Im Er-regermetabolismus wurden unter in vitro-Bedingungen die Pentaketide Flaviolin, 2-Hydroxy-juglon, Juglon und 2,4,8-Trihydroxytetralon (-THT) bestimmt. Die Konzentration an 2,4,8-THT konnte sowohl durch die Anwendung des synthetischen Wirkstoffes Tricyclazol ® sowie durch natürliche Aktivatoren aus interzellulärem Blattgewebe resistenter Musa cv stark gesteigert werden. Mf-Rohextrakte und ausgewählte pilzliche Substanzen wurden auf ihre Dosis-Wirkungsbeziehung gegenüber verschiedenen Musa cv untersucht. Unter in vivo-Bedingungen Mf-inokulierter Bananenpflanzen führte die Anwendung des Wirkstoffes zu einer als "zerstörerische HR" bezeichneten Nekrotisierung des Blattes in anfälligen und resistenten Sorten. Diese Ergebnisse belegen die Bedeutung des 2,4,8-THT für die Ausprägung nekrotischer Blatt-symptome, die in Abhängigkeit von der Konzentration zum jeweiligen Zeitpunkt Musa cv-spezifische Wirkungen hervorruft: In der resistenten Sorte führte die Steigerung von 2,4,8-THT zur HR und der Elizitierung postinfektioneller Abwehrreaktionen, die zur Inkompatibilität zwischen Pathogen und Wirtspflanze führen; in der anfälligen Sorte erreicht 2,4,8-THT erst nach Ausbildung einer kompatiblen Interaktion mit biotropher Ernährung toxische Dosen und wirkt als Virulenzfaktor in der nekrotrophen Phase der Pathogenese. / The fungal pathogen causing black Sigatoka disease, Mycosphaerella fijiensis (Mf), attacks almost all varieties (cv) of cultivated bananas and plantains Musa sp. However, neither the reactions of host plant in relation to the pathogen nor its pathogenicity has been characterized in detail. A special significance has been attributed to fungal secondary metabolites of pentaketid pathway as host-specific toxins within the pathosystem. The present study refers to the experimental investigation of host-pathogen interactions using tissue culture as well as chromatographic methods in order to characterize biochemical and physiological metabolisms of plant and fungus. With reference to plant defense mechanisms of resistant Musa cv, hypersensitive reaction (HR), activation of phenylalanine-ammonia lyase and accumulation of postinfectional substances which blocked fungal growth have been demonstrated. Using in vitro conditions, the pentaketide metabolites flaviolin, 2-hydroxyjuglone, juglone and 2,4,8-trihydroxytetralone (2,4,8-tht) had been determined. 2,4,8-tht concentration was significantly increased through the application of the synthetic compound tricyclazole ® and through natural activators extracted from resistant Musa cv intercellular space of leaf tissue. Dose-effect relationship between crude extracts and selected fungal substances applied to different Musa cv were investigated. Using in vivo conditions, the application of tricyclazole ® to host plants inoculated with Mf resulted in extensive necrosis of susceptible and resistant Musa cv leaves, characterized as "devastating HR". These results proof the importance of 2,4,8-tht for the development of necrotic leaf symptoms that causes host-specific reactions depending on their concentration at different moments of pathogenesis: The resistant Musa variety increases 2,4,8-tht causing HR and elicitation of postinfectional defense reactions that lead to incompatibility between pathogen and host plant; in the susceptible variety, 2,4,8-tht attains toxic doses only after establishment of a compatible interaction including biotrophic nutrition of the pathogen, acting as a virulence factor during the necrotrophic phase of pathogenesis.