Plant Fitness Assessment for Wild Relatives of Insect Resistant Bt-Crops
Figure 4
(a) Year 1: mean (Β±1βSE) number of seeds per plant per plot ( plots with 10 plants each) produced by wild radish with two herbivory treatments (tmt: exposed to herbivores or protected from herbivores) in three habitat types (hab: disked field, field margin, or natural vegetation habitats); ANOVA on rank transformed levels of seed production per plant per plot showed significant effects for tmt (ANOVA for herbivory treatment nested in site, , ) and hab (ANOVA for habitat type nested in site, , ), with seed production greater on protected than exposed plants and in agricultural habitats than in natural vegetation, but no interaction between herbivory treatment and habitat type. Note that averages include plants that produced no seeds due to early mortality. (b) Year 2: mean (Β±1βSE) number of seeds per plant per plot (β30 plots with 2 plants per plot) on exposed versus protected [tmt] wild mustard and radish [species] in disked field, field margin, and natural vegetation habitats [hab]. Wild mustard bars, labeled βMus,β precede wild radish bars, labeled βRad.β ANOVA on rank transformed levels of seed production per plant per plot showed significant effects for tmt (, ) and hab (, ), where seed set was significantly lower in natural habitats than in agricultural habitats, but the vulnerability of wild mustard in this regard was shown by a marginally significant effect of species*hab (, ), and no significant effects for species, species*tmt, tmt*hab, or species*tmt*hab interactions. Note that averages include plants that produced no seeds due to early mortality.
