@article{fdi:010070996,
  title = {{F}acing herbivory on the climb up : lost opportunities as the main cost of herbivory in the wild yam {D}ioscorea praehensilis},
  author = {{D}i {G}iusto, {B}. and {D}ounias, {E}dmond and {M}c{K}ey, {D}. {B}.},
  editor = {},
  language = {{ENG}},
  abstract = {{P}lants with simple architecture and strong constraints on their growth may offer critical insights into how growth strategies affect the tolerance of plants to herbivory. {A}lthough {D}ioscorea praehensilis, a wild yam of {A}frican forests, is perennial, both aerial apparatus and tuber are annually renewed. {E}ach year, the tuber produces a single stem that climbs from the ground to the forest canopy. {T}his stem bears no leaves and no branches until it reaches optimal light conditions. {O}nce in the canopy, the plant's production fuels the filling of a new tuber before the plant dies back to the ground. {W}e hypothesized that if deprived of ant defense, the leafless growth phase is a vulnerable part of the cycle, during which a small amount of herbivory entails a high cost in terms of loss of opportunity. {W}e compared the growth of stems bearing ants or not as well as of intact stems and stems subjected to simulated or natural herbivory. {A}nts reduce herbivory; herbivory delays arrival to the canopy and shortens the season of production. {A}rtificially prolonging the stem growth to the canopy increased plant mortality in the following year and, in surviving plants, reduced the stem diameter and likely the underground reserves produced. {T}uber size is a key variable in plant performance as it affects both the size of the aerial apparatus and the duration of its single season of production. {A}erial apparatus and tuber are thus locked into a cycle of reciprocal annual renewal. {C}osts due to loss of opportunity may play a major role in plant tolerance to herbivory, especially when architectural constraints interact with ecological conditions to shape the plant's growth strategy.},
  keywords = {monocotyledon ; perennial ; plant architecture ; plant/herbivore ; interactions ; resource storage ; {AFRIQUE} {DE} {L}'{OUEST} ; {AFRIQUE} {CENTRALE} ; {CAMEROUN}},
  booktitle = {},
  journal = {{E}cology and {E}volution},
  volume = {7},
  numero = {16},
  pages = {6493--6506},
  ISSN = {2045-7758},
  year = {2017},
  DOI = {10.1002/ece3.3066},
  URL = {https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010070996},
}