Abstract
Abstract Altered precipitation patterns due to climate change are likely to impose water‐deficit stress in plants resulting in changes to specific leaf mass, leaf water content and chemical defences that may impact herbivorous arthropods. Grasses, in particular, accumulate large concentrations of silicon (Si) which provides physical defence against herbivores. Although Si uptake by plants may be affected by water availability, very few studies have investigated the combined effect of water‐deficit stress and Si on insect herbivore performance. We grew tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb. hydroponically, with and without Si, and half of the plants were treated with 20% polyethylene glycol (PEG) to impose osmotic stress. In all, 11 leaf traits (physiological, chemical and structural) were measured, silicified phytoliths on the leaf surface were visualised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) in conjunction with X‐ray mapping, and plants were exposed to a chewing insect herbivore [ Helicoverpa armigera Hübner (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae)]. Although osmotic stress was associated with changes to leaf physiological and chemical traits, including increased specific leaf mass, decreased leaf relative water content and increased leaf nitrogen (N), there was no significant effect on H. armigera relative growth rate (RGR). However, Si reduced RGR of H. armigera by 80%–98% while generating few changes to physiological and chemical leaf traits. Instead, the decline in RGR with Si was associated with changes to leaf structural traits, in particular, a greater density of silicified phytoliths on the leaf surface. Comparison of effect sizes indicated that leaf traits were primarily affected by osmotic stress but not Si, and that herbivore RGR was strongly negatively affected by Si but not osmotic stress. There was no interactive effect between the osmotic stress and Si treatments on H. armigera RGR or plant traits except for leaf nitrogen and phenolic concentrations. This study provides further support that Si may prove to be beneficial to plants against chewing insect pests and remains robust regardless of water‐deficit stress conditions. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.
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Claims 11
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress increased specific leaf mass.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.
Lolium arundinaceume1 - Treatment
- osmotic stresse0
- Outcome
- specific leaf masse0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“osmotic stress was associated with changes to leaf physiological and chemical traits, including increased specific leaf mass, decreased leaf relative water content and increased leaf nitrogen (N)”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress decreased leaf relative water content.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- osmotic stresse0
- Outcome
- leaf relative water contente0
- Direction
- decreasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“osmotic stress was associated with changes to leaf physiological and chemical traits, including increased specific leaf mass, decreased leaf relative water content and increased leaf nitrogen (N)”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress increased leaf nitrogen.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- osmotic stresse0
- Outcome
- leaf nitrogen (N)e0
- Direction
- increasede0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“osmotic stress was associated with changes to leaf physiological and chemical traits, including increased specific leaf mass, decreased leaf relative water content and increased leaf nitrogen (N)”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress had no significant effect on H. armigera relative growth rate.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Interactor
- H. armigera
_gusano_cogollero.png?width=60)
Helicoverpa armigerae0herbivore - Outcome
- H. armigera relative growth rate (RGR)e0
- Direction
- no significant effecte0
Not reportedTreatmentComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
_gusano_cogollero.png?width=500)
Verbatim
e0“there was no significant effect on H. armigera relative growth rate (RGR)”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Silicon reduced H. armigera relative growth rate by 80%–98%.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- Sie0
- Interactor
- H. armigeraHelicoverpa armigerae0herbivore
- Outcome
- RGR of H. armigerae0
- Direction
- reducede0
- Value
- 80%–98%e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Si reduced RGR of H. armigera by 80%–98%”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Silicon generated few physiological and chemical changes in leaves.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- Sie0
- Outcome
- physiological and chemical leaf traitse0
- Direction
- few changese0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Si reduced RGR of H. armigera by 80%–98% while generating few changes to physiological and chemical leaf traits.”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Reduced herbivore growth with silicon was associated with greater density of silicified phytoliths.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- Sie0
- Outcome
- decline in RGRe0
- Direction
- declinee0
- Qualifier
- greater density of silicified phytoliths on the leaf surfacee0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the decline in RGR with Si was associated with changes to leaf structural traits, in particular, a greater density of silicified phytoliths on the leaf surface.”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress primarily affected leaf traits in the effect-size comparison.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- osmotic stresse0
- Outcome
- leaf traitse0
- Direction
- primarily affectede0
- Comparator
- Sie0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“leaf traits were primarily affected by osmotic stress but not Si”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Silicon strongly negatively affected herbivore growth in the effect-size comparison.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- Sie0
- Outcome
- herbivore RGRe0
- Direction
- strongly negatively affectede0
- Comparator
- osmotic stresse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“herbivore RGR was strongly negatively affected by Si but not osmotic stress”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress and silicon did not interact for H. armigera growth.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- osmotic stress and Si treatmentse0
- Interactor
- H. armigeraHelicoverpa armigerae0herbivore
- Outcome
- H. armigera RGRe0
- Direction
- no interactive effecte0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“There was no interactive effect between the osmotic stress and Si treatments on H. armigera RGR or plant traits except for leaf nitrogen and phenolic concentrations.”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
Claim · model-written summary
Osmotic stress and silicon did not interact for most plant traits, except leaf nitrogen and phenolics.
- Taxon
- Festuca arundinacea Schreb.Lolium arundinaceume1
- Treatment
- osmotic stress and Si treatmentse0
- Outcome
- plant traitse0
- Direction
- no interactive effecte0
- Qualifier
- except for leaf nitrogen and phenolic concentrationse0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“There was no interactive effect between the osmotic stress and Si treatments on H. armigera RGR or plant traits except for leaf nitrogen and phenolic concentrations.”
t0“Leaf silicification provides herbivore defence regardless of the extensive impacts of water stress”
e1“tall fescue Festuca arundinacea Schreb.”
The same questions in other papers
silicon atom · Helicoverpa armigera · Lolium arundinaceum (tall fescue)Results agree
2 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
silicon atom · growth · Lolium arundinaceum (tall fescue)Results agree
6 papers in the same direction as this paper
- positive
- positive
- positive
3 papers more in this group
See all 7 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.