The ecological significance of nickel hyperaccumulation: a plant chemical defense

Nickel hyperaccumulating plants have more than 1000 mg Ni pro kg dry weight when grown on nickel-bearing soils. Its is hypothesized that Ni hyperaccumulation could serve as a chemical defense against herbivores. In feeding experiments with potential insect herbivores and Ni hyperaccumulating plants,...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oecologia 1994-08, Vol.98 (3-4), p.379-384
Main Authors: Martens, S.N. (California Univ., Davis (USA). Dept. of Botany), Boyd, R.S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acid soils
Agricultural soils
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Autoecology
Biological and medical sciences
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
HERBIVORE
Herbivores
HERBIVOROS
Hyperaccumulators
Insect larvae
Insecta
LARVAS
LARVE
Leaves
LEPIDOPTERA
Martens
NICKEL
NIQUEL
Plants
Plants and fungi
Serpentine soils
Soil ecology
SOL DE SERPENTINE
Streptanthus polygaloides
SUBSTANCE TOXIQUE
SUELO DE SERPENTINA
SUSTANCIAS TOXICAS
VALEUR NUTRITIVE
VALOR NUTRITIVO
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Nickel hyperaccumulating plants have more than 1000 mg Ni pro kg dry weight when grown on nickel-bearing soils. Its is hypothesized that Ni hyperaccumulation could serve as a chemical defense against herbivores. In feeding experiments with potential insect herbivores and Ni hyperaccumulating plants, only those insects fed leaves from plants grown on non-nickel-bearing soil survived or showed a weight gain. Among chemical parameters measured, only Ni content of plants was sufficient to explain this result. When subjected to herbivory by lepidopteran larvae, plants grown on Ni-amended soil showed greater survival and yield than plants on unamended soil. Ni hyperaccumulation may be an effective plant chemical defense against herbivores because of its high lethality, apparent low cost, and broad spectrum of toxicity.
ISSN:0029-8549
1432-1939
DOI:10.1007/bf00324227