Elevation structures plant growth and defence but not resistance to slug herbivory

Clicks: 20
ID: 329125
2026
Free PDF
Article Quality & Performance Metrics
Overall Quality
Not rated
Combines reader engagement with the AI quality analysis. This article has not been analysed, so there is no overall score — reader engagement is measured and shown alongside.
AI Quality Assessment
Not analyzed
Readership in this journal
Emerging

Ranked #82 of 153 articles by views in journal of plant ecology

Most read Least read

Bar heights use a square-root scale. Only the 120 most-read articles are drawn; the journal has 153 in total.

Mint this article as an NFT
Not yet minted

Create a permanent, verifiable on-chain record of this article on the Scimatic Network. The NFT is held in your Journament account, and you can withdraw it to your own wallet at any time.

5 SUSD one-off · no wallet required
Sign in to mint
Abstract
Abstract Predicting how plant resistance to herbivory varies along environmental gradients is a central goal in ecology, yet most empirical tests rely on insect herbivores and may not generalize across consumer guilds. Elevational gradients are expected to relax plant defence at high elevation because of reduced herbivore pressure, but whether this pattern holds for functionally distinct herbivores remains unclear. Here, we tested how plant resistance to herbivory varies with elevation when plants interact with terrestrial slugs, a group of generalist herbivores. We conducted a common garden experiment using six closely related Brassicaceae species spanning approximately 2,000 m of elevational distribution in the Swiss Alps. We quantified plant growth, chemical defence expression (glucosinolates), slug damage, and slug performance. Low-elevation species accumulated significantly more biomass and produced more than twice the total glucosinolate concentrations of high-elevation species. Despite elevational differences in growth and defence, neither slug damage nor slug performance differed systematically between high- and low-elevation plants. Instead, resistance varied primarily among species and was best predicted by plant growth rate: faster-growing species suffered higher levels of slug damage, consistent with growth-defence trade-offs. Glucosinolate composition differed with elevation and herbivory treatment, but variation in total glucosinolate concentration did not translate into reduced slug feeding or growth. Our findings demonstrate that elevational patterns of plant defence inferred from insect-based studies do not readily extend to molluscan herbivores. Rather than elevation per se, species-level trait variation, particularly growth strategies, emerged as a key determinant of herbivory outcomes, highlighting the importance of herbivore functional identity in trait-based frameworks.
Reference Key
openalex_W7213562062 Use this key to autocite in the manuscript while using SciMatic Manuscript Manager or Thesis Manager
Authors Julia Sánchez Vilas, Sergio Rasmann
Are you one of these authors? Claim your profile
Journal journal of plant ecology
Year 2026
DOI
10.1093/jpe/rtag225
URL
https://doi.org/10.1093/jpe/rtag225
Keywords Keywords not found

Citations

No citations found. To add a citation, contact the admin at info@scimatic.org

Comments

No comments yet. Be the first to comment on this article.