RESUMEN
Volatile cues released by plants play an important role in plant-insect interactions and are influenced by pests or soil conditions affecting plant metabolism. Field microcosm experiments were used to characterize arthropod spontaneous assemblies in homogenous unstressed wheat patches exposed to volatile cues coming from wheat plants with different levels of stress. The design was a factorial completely randomized block design with three replications. Source wheat pots combined two stress factors: 1) soil degradation level: high and low, and 2) aphid herbivory: with (A) and without (B). Eighteen experimental units consisted of source stressed wheat pots, connected by tubes conducting the volatile cues to sink wheat patches. These patches were located at the end of the tubes placed in a flowering wheat field. Arthropod assemblies on wheat sinks were different between years and they were associated to the source cues. Soil condition was the main discriminating factor among arthropods when a clear contrast between high and low soil degradation was observed, whereas aphid herbivory was the main discriminating factor when soil condition effects were absent. Main soil properties related with arthropods assembly were Mg and K in the first year and cation exchange capacity, total nitrogen, and pH in the second year of experiment. According to this study, spontaneous arthropod distributions in the homogeneous, unstressed wheat patch responded to the volatile cues coming from wheat sources growing in particular soil conditions. It is possible to suggest that soil-plant-herbivore interactions change wheat cues and this phenomenon produces significant differences in neighboring arthropod community structure.
Asunto(s)
Distribución Animal/fisiología , Artrópodos/fisiología , Señales (Psicología) , Flores/química , Triticum/química , Compuestos Orgánicos Volátiles/análisis , Animales , Argentina , Flores/parasitología , Concentración de Iones de Hidrógeno , Magnesio/análisis , Nitrógeno/análisis , Potasio/análisis , Análisis de Componente Principal , Suelo/química , Triticum/parasitologíaRESUMEN
The objective was to study the essential oil composition of coriander fruits in plants growing in environments differing in soil conditions and weediness level. Factorial field experiments were conducted in two locations from the Rolling Pampas, Argentina, and two coriander landraces (European and Argentinean) were tested under two levels of nitrogen fertilization and weediness. Data were evaluated with uni- and multivariate techniques. The variation in the oil composition was related to the relative proportion of the constituents and not to the presence/absence of a particular component. Weather conditions in 1997 favored linalool and camphor in both landraces. Location, fertilization, and weediness also affected the chemical profile. The European landrace showed a more stable concentration of the major components than the Argentinean landrace. These results, which show the relationships between some environmental conditions and the essential oil composition, are useful in the development of innovative strategies aimed to improve oil composition and to manage crop pests.