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Multitrophic links between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and insect parasitoids
Article first published online: 6 NOV 2003
DOI: 10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00540.x
Additional Information
How to Cite
Gange, A. C., Brown, V. K. and Aplin, D. M. (2003), Multitrophic links between arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi and insect parasitoids. Ecology Letters, 6: 1051–1055. doi: 10.1046/j.1461-0248.2003.00540.x
Publication History
- Issue published online: 6 NOV 2003
- Article first published online: 6 NOV 2003
- Editor, N. Huntly Manuscript received 26 August 2003 First decision made 27 September 2003 Manuscript accepted 9 October 2003
- Abstract
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Keywords:
- Arbuscular mycorrhiza;
- fungicide;
- insect;
- iprodione;
- multitrophic interactions;
- parasitoid
Abstract
The effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization of Leucanthemum vulgare on parasitism of a leaf-mining insect was studied in a field and a laboratory experiment. In the field, parasitism of Chromatomyia syngenesiae by Diglyphus isaea was lower on mycorrhizal plants, compared with plants where the association was reduced. A laboratory experiment, in which L. vulgare was inoculated with three species of AM fungi, showed that the effects on parasitism rates were mycorrhizal species-dependent. Some fungal combinations increased parasitism, some decreased it, while others had no effect. It is concluded that the most likely cause of these differences is plant size, with parasitoid searching efficiency being reduced on the larger plants, resulting from certain mycorrhizal species combinations. However, a mycorrhizal effect on herbivore-produced plant volatiles cannot be ruled out.