10.5061/DRYAD.8852K
Simon, Franz W.
Yale University
Hodson, Christina N.
University of Victoria
Roitberg, Bernard R.
Simon Fraser University
Data from: State dependence, personality, and plants: light-foraging
decisions in Mimosa pudica (L.)
Dryad
dataset
2017
Mimosa pudica (L.)
Optimal foraging theory
Behavioral ecology
resource foraging
behavioral reaction norm
energetics
behavioral syndrome
Mimosa pudica
2017-08-05T00:00:00Z
2017-08-05T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.2340
76131 bytes
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CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Plants make foraging decisions that are dependent on ecological
conditions, such as resource availability and distribution. Despite the
field of plant behavioral ecology gaining momentum, ecologists still know
little about what factors impact plant behavior, especially light-foraging
behavior. We made use of the behavioral reaction norm approach to
investigate light foraging in a plant species that exhibits rapid
movement: Mimosa pudica. We explored how herbivore avoidance behavior in
M. pudica (which closes its leaflets temporarily when disturbed) is
affected by an individual’s energy state and the quality of the current
environment and also repeatedly tested the behavior of individuals from
two seed sources to determine whether individuals exhibit a “personality”
(i.e., behavioral syndrome). We found that when individuals are in a
low-energy state, they adopt a riskier light-foraging strategy, opening
leaflets faster, and not closing leaflets as often in response to a
disturbance. However, when plants are in a high-energy state, they exhibit
a plastic light-foraging strategy dependent on environment quality.
Although we found no evidence that individuals exhibit behavioral
syndromes, we found that individuals from different seed sources
consistently behave differently from each other. Our results suggest that
plants are capable of making state-dependent decisions and that plant
decision making is complex, depending on the interplay between internal
and external factors.
State Dependent Light Foraging in Mimosa PudicaThe data was collected in a
greenhouse in Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada. Descriptors of
column headings: initial is the initial width of the leaflet before
disturbance, closing is the width immediately after disturbance, opening
is the time until the leaflet reopened to 75% of its initial width, ID2 is
the individual identity of a plant, population is the seed source of the
plant. Treatment codes are 1&2 = uncovered 24 hours before
behavioral assay and 3&4 = covered by shade cloth 24 hours before
behavioral assay.mimosaLightBehaviour.csv