Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory
Autor(a) principal: | |
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Data de Publicação: | 2012 |
Outros Autores: | , , , , |
Tipo de documento: | Artigo |
Idioma: | eng |
Título da fonte: | Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
Texto Completo: | http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17644 |
Resumo: | Seagrasses are exposed to the constant risk of structural damage due to abiotic factors, such as waves and currents, and biotic factors, e.g. herbivory. Leaf mechanical resistance is therefore essential in protecting plants from structural failure and may also have ecological consequences. For example, mechanical traits of seagrass leaves may play an important role in plant− herbivore interactions and food-preferences of herbivores in these ecosystems, as widely reported for terrestrial plants. However, little is known about leaf mechanical resistance against structural damage in seagrasses and how it varies with other traits such as their nutritional value. We analysed the correlation between fracture properties relevant to herbivory and the nutritional value of seagrass leaves, testing the general assumption that species that invest heavily in mechanical resistance (toughening of the leaves) will present low nitrogen and high carbon and fibre contents. Direct measurements of leaf traits were conducted on 9 seagrass species from south-western Australia: (1) leaf-fracture properties from shearing and tearing tests, (2) nutritional values (carbon to nitrogen ratio and fibre content) and (3) morphological and structural traits (specific leaf area and leaf thickness). Results showed that leaf-fracture properties in seagrasses were tightly correlated to their C:N ratio, which reflects their nutritional value, thus supporting the general assumption that C investment is inversely correlated to N content. This close correlation suggested that patterns of seagrass consumption may be influenced not only by the C:N ratio but also by the leaf-fracture properties. Among co-existing seagrasses, we found a continuous spectrum of mechanical and nutritional traits across species, which provides fundamental information about species assembly, herbivore behaviour and ecosystem functions. |
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Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivoryBiomechanicsHerbivoryNitrogenNutritional traitLeaf toughnessMechanical resistanceSeagrasses are exposed to the constant risk of structural damage due to abiotic factors, such as waves and currents, and biotic factors, e.g. herbivory. Leaf mechanical resistance is therefore essential in protecting plants from structural failure and may also have ecological consequences. For example, mechanical traits of seagrass leaves may play an important role in plant− herbivore interactions and food-preferences of herbivores in these ecosystems, as widely reported for terrestrial plants. However, little is known about leaf mechanical resistance against structural damage in seagrasses and how it varies with other traits such as their nutritional value. We analysed the correlation between fracture properties relevant to herbivory and the nutritional value of seagrass leaves, testing the general assumption that species that invest heavily in mechanical resistance (toughening of the leaves) will present low nitrogen and high carbon and fibre contents. Direct measurements of leaf traits were conducted on 9 seagrass species from south-western Australia: (1) leaf-fracture properties from shearing and tearing tests, (2) nutritional values (carbon to nitrogen ratio and fibre content) and (3) morphological and structural traits (specific leaf area and leaf thickness). Results showed that leaf-fracture properties in seagrasses were tightly correlated to their C:N ratio, which reflects their nutritional value, thus supporting the general assumption that C investment is inversely correlated to N content. This close correlation suggested that patterns of seagrass consumption may be influenced not only by the C:N ratio but also by the leaf-fracture properties. Among co-existing seagrasses, we found a continuous spectrum of mechanical and nutritional traits across species, which provides fundamental information about species assembly, herbivore behaviour and ecosystem functions.Inter ResearchSapientiade los Santos, Carmen B.Brun, F. G.Onoda, YusukeCambridge, Marion L.Bouma, Tjeerd J.Vergara, Juan J.2022-03-04T17:28:41Z2012-07-032022-03-03T12:25:26Z2012-07-03T00:00:00Zinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/articleapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17644eng0171-8630cv-prod-93849010.3354/meps09757info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccessreponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãoinstacron:RCAAP2023-07-24T10:29:49Zoai:sapientia.ualg.pt:10400.1/17644Portal AgregadorONGhttps://www.rcaap.pt/oai/openaireopendoar:71602024-03-19T20:07:33.957572Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informaçãofalse |
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
title |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
spellingShingle |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory de los Santos, Carmen B. Biomechanics Herbivory Nitrogen Nutritional trait Leaf toughness Mechanical resistance |
title_short |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
title_full |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
title_fullStr |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
title_full_unstemmed |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
title_sort |
Leaf-fracture properties correlated with nutritional traits in nine Australian seagrass species: implications for susceptibility to herbivory |
author |
de los Santos, Carmen B. |
author_facet |
de los Santos, Carmen B. Brun, F. G. Onoda, Yusuke Cambridge, Marion L. Bouma, Tjeerd J. Vergara, Juan J. |
author_role |
author |
author2 |
Brun, F. G. Onoda, Yusuke Cambridge, Marion L. Bouma, Tjeerd J. Vergara, Juan J. |
author2_role |
author author author author author |
dc.contributor.none.fl_str_mv |
Sapientia |
dc.contributor.author.fl_str_mv |
de los Santos, Carmen B. Brun, F. G. Onoda, Yusuke Cambridge, Marion L. Bouma, Tjeerd J. Vergara, Juan J. |
dc.subject.por.fl_str_mv |
Biomechanics Herbivory Nitrogen Nutritional trait Leaf toughness Mechanical resistance |
topic |
Biomechanics Herbivory Nitrogen Nutritional trait Leaf toughness Mechanical resistance |
description |
Seagrasses are exposed to the constant risk of structural damage due to abiotic factors, such as waves and currents, and biotic factors, e.g. herbivory. Leaf mechanical resistance is therefore essential in protecting plants from structural failure and may also have ecological consequences. For example, mechanical traits of seagrass leaves may play an important role in plant− herbivore interactions and food-preferences of herbivores in these ecosystems, as widely reported for terrestrial plants. However, little is known about leaf mechanical resistance against structural damage in seagrasses and how it varies with other traits such as their nutritional value. We analysed the correlation between fracture properties relevant to herbivory and the nutritional value of seagrass leaves, testing the general assumption that species that invest heavily in mechanical resistance (toughening of the leaves) will present low nitrogen and high carbon and fibre contents. Direct measurements of leaf traits were conducted on 9 seagrass species from south-western Australia: (1) leaf-fracture properties from shearing and tearing tests, (2) nutritional values (carbon to nitrogen ratio and fibre content) and (3) morphological and structural traits (specific leaf area and leaf thickness). Results showed that leaf-fracture properties in seagrasses were tightly correlated to their C:N ratio, which reflects their nutritional value, thus supporting the general assumption that C investment is inversely correlated to N content. This close correlation suggested that patterns of seagrass consumption may be influenced not only by the C:N ratio but also by the leaf-fracture properties. Among co-existing seagrasses, we found a continuous spectrum of mechanical and nutritional traits across species, which provides fundamental information about species assembly, herbivore behaviour and ecosystem functions. |
publishDate |
2012 |
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv |
2012-07-03 2012-07-03T00:00:00Z 2022-03-04T17:28:41Z 2022-03-03T12:25:26Z |
dc.type.status.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion |
dc.type.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/article |
format |
article |
status_str |
publishedVersion |
dc.identifier.uri.fl_str_mv |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17644 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/17644 |
dc.language.iso.fl_str_mv |
eng |
language |
eng |
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv |
0171-8630 cv-prod-938490 10.3354/meps09757 |
dc.rights.driver.fl_str_mv |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
eu_rights_str_mv |
openAccess |
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv |
application/pdf |
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Inter Research |
publisher.none.fl_str_mv |
Inter Research |
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv |
reponame:Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) instname:Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação instacron:RCAAP |
instname_str |
Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
instacron_str |
RCAAP |
institution |
RCAAP |
reponame_str |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
collection |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) |
repository.name.fl_str_mv |
Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos) - Agência para a Sociedade do Conhecimento (UMIC) - FCT - Sociedade da Informação |
repository.mail.fl_str_mv |
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1799133320786739200 |