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Summary: 2700
Ecology, 83(10), 2002, pp. 27002710
2002 by the Ecological Society of America
HOST EFFECTS ON HERBIVORY AND POLLINATION
IN A HEMIPARASITIC PLANT
LYNN S. ADLER1
Center for Population Biology and Department of Entomology, University of California, Davis, California 95616 USA
Abstract. The indirect effects of hosts on interactions between parasites and other
species are not well understood, and it may be difficult to predict the outcome of host
species effects on parasite performance due to the complexity of potential direct and indirect
effects. For example, parasitic plants obtain defensive compounds as well as nutrients from
their hosts, and thus many attributes of parasitic plants are dependent on the quality of
their host species. Here I measure the effect of a lupine host species (Lupinus argenteus)
compared to other host species on herbivory, pollination, and female plant fitness in the
hemiparasite Indian paintbrush (Castilleja miniata) using a series of field experiments.
Association with lupine was determined in the field by assaying Indian paintbrush leaves
for lupine alkaloids. I found that Indian paintbrush plants parasitizing lupines experienced
reduced herbivory from plume moth larvae, agromyzid fly larvae, and deer, relative to
Indian paintbrush plants parasitizing other host species. However, there was no correlation
between alkaloid content of inflorescences and plume moth performance. Host species did
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