Does the generalist parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris selectively forage in heterogeneous plant communities?

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Title
Does the generalist parasitic plant Cuscuta campestris selectively forage in heterogeneous plant communities?
Journal
New Phytologist
Author(s)
Koch A.M., Binder C., Sanders I.R.
Publication state
Published
Issued date
2004
Volume
162
Number
1
Pages
147-155
Notes
802PL NEW PHYTOL
Abstract
Cuscuta spp. are holoparasitic plants that can simultaneously parasitise several host plants. It has been suggested that Cuscuta has evolved a foraging strategy based on a positive relationship between preuptake investment and subsequent reward on different host species. Here we establish reliable parasite size measures and show that parasitism on individuals of different host species alters the biomass of C. campestris but that within host species size and age also contributes to the heterogeneous resource landscape. We then performed two additional experiments to test whether C. campestris achieves greater resource acquisition by parasitising two host species rather than one and whether C. campestris forages in communities of hosts offering different rewards (a choice experiment). There was no evidence in either experiment for direct benefits of a mixed host diet. Cuscuta campestris foraged by parasitising the most rewarding hosts the fastest and then investing the most on them. We conclude that our data present strong evidence for foraging in the parasitic plant C. campestris.
Web of science
Open Access
Yes
Create date
19/11/2007 10:31
Last modification date
20/08/2019 14:24
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