AUTHOR=Zhang Peiyu , Grutters Bart M. C. , van Leeuwen Casper H. A. , Xu Jun , Petruzzella Antonella , van den Berg Reinier F. , Bakker Elisabeth S. TITLE=Effects of Rising Temperature on the Growth, Stoichiometry, and Palatability of Aquatic Plants JOURNAL=Frontiers in Plant Science VOLUME=9 YEAR=2019 URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/plant-science/articles/10.3389/fpls.2018.01947 DOI=10.3389/fpls.2018.01947 ISSN=1664-462X ABSTRACT=
Global warming is expected to strengthen herbivore-plant interactions leading to enhanced top-down control of plants. However, latitudinal gradients in plant quality as food for herbivores suggest lower palatability at higher temperatures, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear. If plant palatability would decline with temperature rise, then this may question the expectation that warming leads to enhanced top-down control. Therefore, experiments that directly test plant palatability and the traits underlying palatability along a temperature gradient are needed. Here we experimentally tested the impact of temperature on aquatic plant growth, plant chemical traits (including stoichiometry) and plant palatability. We cultured three aquatic plant species at three temperatures (15, 20, and 25°C), measured growth parameters, determined chemical traits and performed feeding trial assays using the generalist consumer