Defense and Adaptive Strategies of <i>Crithmum maritimum</i> L. Against Insect Herbivory: Evidence of Phenotypic Plasticity.

ABSTRACT: Insect herbivory exerts strong selective pressure on plants, yet no study has documented its effects on the halophytic Apiaceae Crithmum maritimum L. (sea fennel). Here, we present the first evidence of natural insect attack on this species, based on five Tunisian coastal populations distributed along a transparent bioclimatic gradient-from sub-humid to semi-arid-and exposed to different levels of herbivory. We implemented an integrative, multi-trait analytical design encompassing morphological, biochemical, mineral, and lipophilic datasets. Each dataset was explored through a suite of complementary multivariate analyses, including ANOVA coupled with Tukey's HSD, principal component analysis (PCA), partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) with variable-importance-in-proj

SUBMITTER: Naui L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12610603 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature