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Summary: 874
Ecology, 86(4), 2005, pp. 874885
2005 by the Ecological Society of America
PLANT GENOTYPE AND ENVIRONMENT INTERACT TO SHAPE A
DIVERSE ARTHROPOD COMMUNITY ON EVENING PRIMROSE
(OENOTHERA BIENNIS)
MARC T. J. JOHNSON1
AND ANURAG A. AGRAWAL2
Department of Botany, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3B2, Canada
Abstract. Both an individual's genotype and environment govern its phenotype, and
this phenotype may have extended consequences for species interactions and communities.
We examined the importance of plant genotype and environmental factors operating at large
(habitat) and small (microhabitat) spatial scales in affecting a multitrophic arthropod com-
munity on plants. We planted 926 plants from 14 genotypes of Oenothera biennis into five
natural habitats that represent the range of environments in which this plant locally occurs.
Genotypic differences among plants accounted for as much as 41% of the variation in
arthropod diversity (Simpson's diversity index) and also affected arthropod evenness, rich-
ness, abundance, and biomass on individual plants. However, the effects of particular plant
genotypes on the arthropod community varied across habitats (i.e., there were significant
plant genotype-by-habitat interactions). Plant genotype explained more variation in the
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