title: Plant resistance to mechanical stress: evidence of an avoidance-tolerance trade-off.
abstract: External mechanical forces resulting from the pressure exerted by wind or water movement are a major stress factor for plants and may cause regular disturbances in many ecosystems. A plant's ability to resist these forces relies either on minimizing the forces encountered by the plant (avoidance strategy), or on maximizing its resistance to breakage (tolerance strategy). We investigated plant resistance strategies using aquatic vegetation as a model, and examined whether avoidance and tolerance are negatively correlated. We tested the avoidance-tolerance correlation across 28 species using a phylogenetically corrected analysis, after construction of a molecular phylogeny for the species considered. Different species demonstrated contrasting avoidance and tolerance and we demonstrated a significant negative relationship between the two strategies, which suggests an avoidance-tolerance trade-off. Negative relationships may result from costs that each strategy incurs or from constraints imposed by physical laws on plant tissues. The existence of such a trade-off has important ecological and evolutionary consequences. It would lead to constraints on the evolution and variation of both strategies, possibly limiting their evolution and may constrain many morphological, anatomical and architectural traits that underlie avoidance and tolerance.
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69003; Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, F-69622; ENTPE, Vaulx-en-Velin, F-69518; CNRS UMR 5023 'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés', F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Puijalon
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Institute of Ecology (NIOO-KNAW) - Centre for Estuarine and Marine Ecology, PO Box 140, NL-4400 AC Yerseke, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Tjeerd J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Bouma
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69003; Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, F-69622; ENTPE, Vaulx-en-Velin, F-69518; CNRS UMR 5023 'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés', F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.|Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, F-75005, France.
authors.forename: Christophe J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Douady
authors.affiliation: Institute of Water and Wetland Research - Radboud University Nijmegen, Toernooiveld, NL-6525 ED Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van Groenendael
authors.affiliation: Section of Plant Ecology & Biodiversity - Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, PO Box 800.84, NL-3508 TB Utrecht, the Netherlands.
authors.forename: Niels P R
authors.initials: NPR
authors.lastname: Anten
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69003; Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, F-69622; ENTPE, Vaulx-en-Velin, F-69518; CNRS UMR 5023 'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés', F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: Evelyne
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Martel
authors.affiliation: Université de Lyon, Lyon, F-69003; Université Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, F-69622; ENTPE, Vaulx-en-Velin, F-69518; CNRS UMR 5023 'Ecologie des Hydrosystèmes Naturels et Anthropisés', F-69622 Villeurbanne, France.
authors.forename: Gudrun
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bornette
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D057446:Hydrodynamics; D016014:Linear Models; D010802:Phylogeny; D063245:Plant Development; D018515:Plant Leaves / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D018547:Plant Stems / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology; D010944:Plants / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics*; D013045:Species Specificity; D013314:Stress, Mechanical