A Phylogenetic Exercise for the Study of Plants-Herbivores Interactions: The Genus Piper as a Case Study

Abstract

Phylogenetics, a useful tool for evolutionary ecology used to interpret species properties and recently, biological interactions based on historical rigorous hypotheses. Some of the most important ecological and evolutionary components in the plant-herbivore interface are the plant's defense patterns. In this study, we developed an exercise where we might give inferences of the evolutionary histories of a plant and their phytophagous using as a model to several species of Piper genus. With bibliographic data, we tested the effect of a number of herbivores, disturbance, pubescent and soil type in 11 species of Piper and their historical relationships with anti-herbivore characteristics. The pubescent and disturbance were the most important characteristics. It could be assumed that pubescence is not associated with herbivory traits, but probably has an adaptative value. We conclude that the use of a historical approach to explaining ecological phenomena have several applications, especially in areas that are usually based on adaptive planning. For the explanation of phenomena, we show a simple and useful procedure to make evolutionary inferences in order to generate practical case studies to teach evolutionary ecology.