Piper

Inhaltsangabe1. Introduction.- 2. Mutualism, Antiherbivore Defense, and Trophic Cascades: Piper Ant-Plants as a Mesocosm for Experimentation.- 2.1. Introduction.- 2.2. Study Sites.- 2.3. Plants.- 2.4. Herbivores.- 2.5. Ant Mutualists.- 2.6. Top Predators.- 2.7. Other Endophytic Arthropods, Nematodes, and Annelids.- 2.8. Mutualism Experiments.- 2.8.1. Evidence for Nutrient Procurement by Pheidole bicornis Plant-Ants.- 2.8.2. Evidence for Defense against Folivores by Pheidole bicornis Plant-Ants.- 2.8.3. Evidence for Higher Fitness in Establishing Fragments via Defense against Folivores.- 2.8.4. Evidence for Additional Plant Fitness Advantages Afforded by Ph. Bicornis Plant-Ants.- 2.9. Tritrophic Interactions and Antiherbivore Defense.- 2.10. Trophic Cascades.- 2.10.1. Experimental Test I: Do Trophic Cascades Operate on the Four Trophic Level System Associated with P. cenocladum Ant-Plants?.- 2.10.2. Experimental Test II: Can Top-Down and Bottom-Up Forces Affect Animal Diversity in the Endophytic Community of P. Cenocladum Ant-Plants?.- 2.10.3. Experimental Test III: Can Indirect Effects of Top Predators Extend to Other Plants in the Understory Community of Piper Ant-Plants?.- 2.11. Conclusions.- 2.12. Acknowledgments.- 3. Pollination Ecology and Resource Partitioning in Neotropical Pipers.- 3.1. Introduction.- 3.2. Pollination and Resource Partitioning in Piper.- 3.2.1. Study Site and Species of the Brazilian Study.- 3.2.2. Habit and Habitat Utilization.- 3.2.3. Vegetative Reproduction.- 3.2.4. Reproductive Phenology.- 3.2.5. Pollination and Visitors.- 3.3. Conclusions: Pollination and Resource Partitioning of Pipers in Light of Evolutionary and Conservative Ecology.- 3.4. Guidelines for Future Research on the Pollination of Pipers.- 3.5. Acknowledgments.- 4. Dispersal Ecology of Neotropical Piper Shrubs and Treelets.- 4.1. Introduction.- 4.2. The Piper Bats.- 4.3. Piper Fruiting Phenology and Dispersal Ecology.- 4.3.1. Fruiting Phenology.- 4.3.2. Patterns of Seed Dispersal.- 4.3.3. Fates of Seeds.- 4.3.4. Postdispersal Distribution Patterns.- 4.4. Coevolutionary Aspects of Bat-Piper Interactions.- 4.5. Conclusions.- 4.6. Acknowledgments.- 5. Biogeography of Neotropical Piper.- 5.1. Introduction.- 5.2. Methods.- 5.3. Results.- 5.3.1. Biogeographic Affinities and Regional Species Pools.- 5.3.2. Correlates of Local Species Richness.- 5.3.3. Variation in Growth Form and Habitat Affinity.- 5.4. Discussion.- 5.5. Acknowledgments.- 6. Faunal Studies in Model Piper spp. Systems, with a Focus on Spider-Induced Indirect Interactions and Novel Insect-Piper Mutualisms.- 6.1. Introduction.- 6.2. The Case of Piper obliquum.- 6.3. The Case of Piper urostachyum.- 6.3.1. Plant Characteristics that Encourage Mutualism.- 6.3.2. Resident Arthropods.- 6.3.2a. Herbivores.- 6.3.2b. Mutualist predators.- 6.3.2c. Parasites of the mutualism?.- 6.3.2d. Top predators.- 6.3.3. Possible Mutualisms and the Effects of Spiders.- 6.4. Summary and Conclusions.- 6.5. Acknowledgments.- 7. Isolation, Synthesis, and Evolutionary Ecology of Piper Amides.- 7.1. Introduction to Piper Chemistry.- 7.2. Isolation and Quantification of Piper Amides.- 7.3. Synthesis of Piper Amides and Their Analogs.- 7.4. Ecology of Piper Chemistry.- 7.5. Evolution of Piper Chemistry.- 7.6. Applied Piper Chemistry.- 7.7. Future Research on Piper Chemistry.- 7.8. Acknowledgments.- 8. Kava (Piper methysticum): Growth in Tissue Culture and In Vitro Production of Kavapyrones.- 8.1. Introduction.- 8.2. Origins of Kava Use and Discovery by Western Cultures.- 8.3. Description of Kava (Piper methysticum) and Its Growth for Use in Kava Production.- 8.4. Active Phytochemicals Present in Kava Extracts.- 8.5. Issues Regarding the Potential Hepatotoxicity of Kava Extracts.- 8.6. Significance of Tissue Culture Growth in Kava Production and Phytochemical Research.- 8.7. Establishment of Kava Cell Cultures and the Determination of In Vitro Kavapyrone Production.- 8.8. Regeneration of Viable Kava Plants from Kava Cell