Original title: Herbivore-plant interactions, evolution of defenses and chemical diversity in Salicaceae
Authors: LEONG, Jing
Document type: Doctoral theses
Year: 2025
Language: eng
Abstract: This thesis examines evolutionary and ecological roles of plant defenses in response to biotic and abiotic stressors, particularly focusing on the effects of chemical diversity on interactions with arthropod herbivores. I focus on temperate Salicaceae that form diverse assemblages of sympatric species and possess diverse chemical defenses, representing a good parallel to speciose tropical genera on which many of hypotheses concerning the evolution of chemical diversity have been previously tested. In my first chapter, I show that various quantitative vs. qualitative measures of phytochemical -diversity can have differential effects on host-choice of different leaf-chewing insect herbivores. In my second chapter, I compared the effects of individual traits and trait syndromes on feeding guilds of associated herbivorous arthropods, while also looking for trade-offs between individual traits. In my third chapter, I explored the trends and evolution of different dimensions of phytochemical diversity (concentration, richness, structural diversity, and functional diversity) and their effects on generalist and specialist feeding guilds in two willow communities: 1) Czech Republic and Austria, and 2) Minnesota, United States of America. Finally, in my last chapter, I used Salicaceae species growing at different elevations to show that clines in biotic and abiotic stress affect into which dimensions of phytochemical diversity plants invest. Overall, this thesis shows the variety of factors that contribute to phytochemical diversity, which in turn represents one of the key factors affecting plant evolution and the astonishing diversity of plant-insect interactions.
Keywords: beta-diversity; divergence; elevation; escalation; flavonoids; Gallers; generalists; Herbivory; leaf-chewers; phytochemicals; phytochemistry; plant defenses; plant-herbivore interactions; salicinoids; Salix; specialists; specialized metabolites
Citation: LEONG, Jing. Herbivore-plant interactions, evolution of defenses and chemical diversity in Salicaceae. České Budějovice, 2025. disertační práce (Ph.D.). JIHOČESKÁ UNIVERZITA V ČESKÝCH BUDĚJOVICÍCH. Přírodovědecká fakulta

Institution: University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (web)
Document availability information: Fulltext is available in the Digital Repository of University of South Bohemia.
Original record: http://www.jcu.cz/vskp/77689

Permalink: http://www.nusl.cz/ntk/nusl-688470


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Universities and colleges > Public universities > University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice
Academic theses (ETDs) > Doctoral theses