Note to users. If you're seeing this message, it means that your browser cannot find this page's style/presentation instructions -- or possibly that you are using a browser that does not support current Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing, and what you can do to make your experience of our site the best it can be.

Science 16 August 1985:
Vol. 229. no. 4714, pp. 649 - 651
DOI: 10.1126/science.229.4714.649
Prev | Table of Contents | Next

Articles

Ecological Effects of Salicin at Three Trophic Levels: New Problems from Old Adaptations

JOHN T. SMILEY 1, JONATHAN M. HORN 1, and NATHAN E. RANK 1

1 Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine 92717, and White Mountain Research Laboratory, University of California

Salicin, a toxic phenol glycoside, is used by larvae of the beetle Chrysomela aenicollis as a substrate for producing defensive secretions. In the east-central Sierra Nevada mountains of California, salicin concentrations ranged from 0.05 percent to over 5 percent of dry weight in leaves of different plants of Salix orestera, the Sierra willow. Beetles produced more secretion and suffered less predation on willows containing more salicin. In addition, leaf damage due to herbivory among 16 willow clones ranged from 0 to 20 percent of leaf area and was linearly related to salicin content. These results illustrate how a plant secondary chemical can become a problem for the plant when herbivores are adapted to use the chemical for their own benefit. The results also show the effect of a plant chemical on three trophic levels—the producer, a herbivore, and the predators of the herbivore.

Submitted on March 12, 1985
Accepted on June 14, 1985


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Salicylates of Intact Salix myrsinifolia Plantlets Do Not Undergo Rapid Metabolic Turnover.
T. M. Ruuhola and M.-R. K. Julkunen-Tiitto (2000)
Plant Physiology 122, 895-906
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Jasmonate-induced responses are costly but benefit plants under attack in native populations.
I. T. Baldwin (1998)
PNAS 95, 8113-8118
   Abstract »    Full Text »    PDF »
Methylcyclopentanoid Monoterpenes Mediate Interactions Among Insect Herbivores.
M. J. RAUPP, F. R. MILAN, P. BARBOSA, and B. A. LEONHARDT (1986)
Science 232, 1408-1410
   Abstract »    PDF »


To Advertise     Find Products

Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)