Host Effects On Herbivory and Pollination in a Hemiparasitic Plant

The indirect effects of hosts on interactions between parasites and other species are not well understood, and it may be difficult to predict the outcome of host species effects on parasite performance due to the complexity of potential direct and indirect effects. For example, parasitic plants obtain defensive compounds as well as nutrients from their hosts, and thus many attributes of parasitic plants are dependent on the quality of their host species. Here I measure the effect of a lupine host species (Lupinus argenteus) compared to other host species on herbivory, pollination, and female plant fitness in the hemiparasite Indian paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) using a series of field experiments. Association with lupine was determined in the field by assaying Indian paintbrush leaves for lupine alkaloids. I found that Indian paintbrush plants parasitizing lupines experienced reduced herbivory from plume moth larvae, agromyzid fly larvae, and deer, relative to Indian paintbrush plants parasitizing other host species. However, there was no correlation between alkaloid content of inflorescences and plume moth performance. Host species did not affect pollinator preference for Indian paintbrush in the field. Indian paintbrush parasitizing lupines produced twice as many seeds overall as Indian paintbrush parasitizing other host species. Correlations suggest that this benefit arises both from reduced herbivory and increased nitrogenous resources. The reduction of herbivory in Indian paintbrush plants parasitizing lupines indicates that host species can affect performance of hemiparasites via indirect pathways, and that the larger community of herbivores could alter the impact of a host on its plant parasites. Read More: http://www.esajournals.org/doi/abs/10.1890/0012-9658%282002%29083%5B2700%3AHEOHAP%5D2.0.CO%3B