Evolution of herbs: key to the conundrum might be tolerance not avoidance

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F67985939%3A_____%2F21%3A00549450" target="_blank" >RIV/67985939:_____/21:00549450 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/00216208:11310/21:10437853

Result on the web

<a href="http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0325448" target="_blank" >http://hdl.handle.net/11104/0325448</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtab042" target="_blank" >10.1093/jpe/rtab042</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Evolution of herbs: key to the conundrum might be tolerance not avoidance

Original language description

Woody plants represent the ancestral growth form in angiosperms with herbs evolving repeatedly from them. While there are a number of hypotheses about drivers of the evolution of the herbaceous habit, the ability to avoid frost damage in winter by discarding their aboveground biomass has often been invoked as the main force in their evolution. We propose instead that any unpredictable disturbance might have been much more important than the seasonal frost, as herbs easily survive repeated disturbance. We tested this hypothesis by comparing herbs and woody plants in their ability to deal with three types of simulated disturbances, more predictable winter freezing, less predictable spring freezing and herbivory. Comparison was made in an experimental common garden setup with 20 species differing in woodiness. We evaluated the effects of these disturbances on mortality and regrowth of plants. Herbs did not have an advantage over woody plants in survival when exposed to winter freezing. In less predictable conditions of spring freezing herbs survived the treatment better than woody plants and this advantage was even larger in case of the simulated herbivory treatment. The advantage of herbs over woody plants in less predictable conditions suggests that herbaceous growth form might be an adaptation to unpredictable disturbance, which herbs are able to tolerate thanks to their ability to survive loss of aboveground biomass. Consequently, factors such as mammal herbivory or fire might have been the most likely factors in the transition from woody species to herbs.

Czech name

—

Czech description

—

Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10618 - Ecology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2021

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

Journal of Plant Ecology

ISSN

1752-9921

e-ISSN

1752-993X

Volume of the periodical

14

Issue of the periodical within the volume

5

Country of publishing house

GB - UNITED KINGDOM

Number of pages

9

Pages from-to

911-919

UT code for WoS article

000698485900006

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-85108522367