Reductions in individual plant growth sometimes boost community resilience

ANN ARBOR-In sports, sometimes a player has to take one for the team. The same appears to be true in the plant world, where reduced individual growth can benefit the broader community. The findings from the University of Michigan's Paul Glaum and André Kessler of Cornell University help explain the persistence of some plant communities when theory predicts they should go extinct. The work is scheduled for publication Dec. 11. "We looked at how chemical defense cues from plants, meant to deter herbivores, can also deter pollinators," said Glaum, a doctoral student in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. "The surprising model result is that while this can lead to fitness losses for individuals, the population effects can be positive for pollinators and plants under some circumstances." Many plants, including the wild tomato species used in this study, produce chemical compounds to repel insect pests and other hungry herbivores.