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1,187 results for “herbivores”
DATASET Temporal shifts in algal and fish assemblages following the introduction of herbivorous species in coral reef patches (Bora Bora Island)
<p>Dataset suporting the study of fish succession in Bora Bora</p>
Fig. 2 in Response of two chemotypes of Melaleuca quinquenervia (Myrtales: Myrtaceae) saplings to colonization by specialist herbivores
Fig. 2. Final mean (± SE) height of Melaleuca quinquenervia saplings of 2 chemotypes (A: viridiflorol; B: E-nerolidol) afer exposure to 2 levels of insect herbivory and 2 water treatments.
Figure 1 in Potential interactions between herbivorous arthropods and of their natural enemies on Caryocar brasiliense (Caryocaraceae) trees
Figure 1 Relationship between the number of Eurytoma sp. adults with the percentage of defoliation (A) and numbers of Eutetranychus sp. (B); that of Eurytoma sp. groups of globoid galls (C) and percentage of defoliation (D) with number of Acaridae; and that of Aphis gossypii with those of Pseudococcus sp. (E) and Histiostoma sp. (F) per 12 leaves on Caryocar brasiliense trees in three years. Montes Claros, Minas Gerais State, Brazil. The symbols represent the averages. N = 45.
Fig. 2 in Feeding habits and habitat of herbivorous mammals from the Early-Late Hemphillian (Miocene) of Costa Rica
Fig. 2. Stratigraphic column of the fossil-bearing locality, San Gerardo de Limoncito, modified from Laurito and Valerio (2010). Abbreviations: C, clay; c, coarse sandstone; Co, conglomerate; f, fine; g, gravel; m, middle; u., unconformity.
Data from: Within- and trans-generational effects of herbivores and detritivores on plant performance and reproduction
1. Mutualistic and antagonistic aboveground and belowground species have the potential to be involved in strong interactions that can either weaken or strengthen their individual impacts on plants. Their impacts can also have delayed effects on a plant's progeny by altering offspring traits and survival. Few studies have explored the effect of herbivore and detritivore interactions with parent plants on offspring vital life-cycle processes, such as seedling emergence rate, seedling establishment, and offspring survival. 2. In the field, I experimentally studied the combined effects of floral herbivores, root herbivores, and detritivores on plant growth and reproduction of Moricandia moricandioides (Brassicaceae). In particular, I analysed the trans-generational effects of herbivores and detritivores on seed and juvenile production as well as on vital life-cycle processes (i.e. seedling emergence rates, survival). 3. Floral herbivores strongly reduced the number of flowers, fruits, seeds, and juveniles. Detritivores had an impact on plant success by increasing seed quality (% N and N:C ratio), although the effect was altered by the presence of floral and root herbivores. 4. I found maternal effects (trans-generational effects) of floral herbivores, root herbivores, and detritivores. Floral herbivores reduced seedling emergence and establishment. Floral and root herbivores in combination reduced seedling emergence timing, but the effect was counteracted by detritivores. Detritivores also reduced the negative effect of floral herbivores on offspring mortality rate. 5. This study shows that the impact of aboveground and belowground organisms on M. moricandioides plants go beyond seed production and were evident in the probability of establishment and survival of the following generation. Trans-generational effects were induced by all three groups of interacting organisms and the net consequences for plant offspring depended on the organisms interacting with the plant.
Data from: Oviposition preference of cabbage white butterflies in the framework of costs and benefits of interspecific herbivore associations
When deciding where to oviposit, herbivorous insects consider: (i) the plant's value as a food source, (ii) the risks of competing with con- and heterospecific herbivores, and (iii) the risks of parasitism and predation on the host plant. The presence of con- and/or heterospecific competitors would further affect the oviposition preference, because the preceding herbivores induce direct/indirect defences in plants against forthcoming herbivores, and thereby alter oviposition decisions. In previous studies, the abovementioned factors have not been studied in an integrative manner. We performed here a case study of this by assessing the oviposition preferences of a small white butterfly, Pieris rapae, for plants occupied by combinations of conspecific larvae, heterospecific larvae (Plutella xylostella), specialist parasitoids of Pi. rapae (Cotesia glomerata) and generalist predators (ants). We previously reported that the females showed equal preference for Pl. xylostella-infested and uninfested plants. Here, we showed that Pi. rapae females preferred uninfested plants to conspecific-infested ones, and Pl. xylostella-infested plants to Pi. rapae-infested ones. We discuss these oviposition preferences of Pi. rapae females in the framework of costs and benefits of interspecific herbivore associations from the above point of view.
Data from: Density-dependent, central-place foraging in a grazing herbivore: competition and trade-offs in time allocation near water
Optimal foraging theory addresses one of the core challenges of ecology: predicting the distribution and abundance of species. Tests of hypotheses of optimal foraging, however, often focus on a single conceptual model rather than drawing upon the collective body of theory, precluding generalization. Here we demonstrate links between two established theoretical frameworks predicting animal movements and resource use: central-place foraging and density-dependent habitat selection. Our goal is to better understand how the nature of critical, centrally placed resources like water (or minerals, breathing holes, breeding sites, etc.) might govern selection for food (energy) resources obtained elsewhere – a common situation for animals living in natural conditions. We empirically test our predictions using movement data from a large herbivore distributed along a gradient of water availability (feral horses, Sable Island, Canada, 2008–2013). Horses occupying western Sable Island obtain freshwater at ponds while in the east horses must drink at self-excavated wells (holes). We studied the implications of differential access to water (time needed for a horse to obtain water) on selection for vegetation associations. Consistent with predictions of density-dependent habitat selection, horses were reduced to using poorer-quality habitat (heathland) more than expected close to water (where densities were relatively high), but were free to select for higher-quality grasslands farther from water. Importantly, central-place foraging was clearly influenced by the type of water-source used (ponds vs. holes, the latter with greater time constraints on access). Horses with more freedom to travel (those using ponds) selected for grasslands at greater distances and continued to select grasslands at higher densities, whereas horses using water holes showed very strong density-dependence in how habitat could be selected. Knowledge of more than one theoretical framework may be required to explain observed variation in foraging behavior of animals where multiple constraints simultaneously influence resource selection.
Data from: Chemical cues linked to risk: cues from belowground natural enemies enhance plant defences and influence herbivore behaviour and performance
1. Chemical cues are essential for many ecological interactions. Previous studies of chemically mediated multitrophic interactions have typically focused on responses to cues from plants or herbivores aboveground. It is increasingly clear, however, that belowground cues and those produced by organisms at higher trophic levels also have ecological importance. Prey animals often avoid predator odours to improve survival, and previous research documented enhanced plant resistance following contact with belowground natural enemies, though the ecological basis was unknown. 2. Here we investigated plant and insect responses to chemical cues from belowground natural enemies and explored the ecological significance of these cues for multitrophic interactions. More specifically, we examined the influence of odours emitted by entomopathogenic nematodes (EPNs), a natural enemy of insect herbivores, on the performance and behaviour of their insect prey and the defence responses of nearby plants. 3. Our findings revealed that EPN-infected insect cadavers emit a characteristic blend of volatile compounds with bioactivity in plants and insects. EPN chemical cues influenced both performance and preference of a specialist herbivore, Colorado potato beetle (CPB, Leptinotarsa decemlineata), feeding on its host plant, potato (Solanum tuberosum). CPB larvae consumed less leaf tissue and gained less mass feeding on plants exposed to EPN cues compared to control plants. Female CPBs laid fewer eggs on plants with EPN cues than on controls, indicating deterrence by EPN cues or EPN-altered plant defences. 4. Plant defences were enhanced by exposure to live EPNs or EPN chemical cues. Potato plants exposed to EPN infective juveniles induced higher amounts of the defence hormone salicylic acid and had higher expression of the pathogen-resistance gene PR-1(PR4) in foliar tissue. Exposing plants to EPN cues primed induction of salicylic acid and jasmonic acid in response to feeding damage by CPB larvae. 5. These findings suggest that herbivores avoid cues from their EPN natural enemies and plants respond to the beneficial nematodes by enhancing systemic defences that reduce herbivore performance. This work has important implications for the chemical ecology of tritrophic interactions as we report that the third trophic level can play direct and indirect roles in plant defence.
Data from: Effect of phytoplankton richness on phytoplankton biomass is weak where the distribution of herbivores is patchy
Positive effects of competitor species richness on competitor productivity can be more pronounced at a scale that includes heterogeneity in 'bottom-up' environmental factors, such as the supply of limiting nutrients. The effect of species richness is not well understood in landscapes where variation in 'top-down' factors, such as the abundance of predators or herbivores, has a strong influence competitor communities. I asked how phytoplankton species richness directly influenced standing phytoplankton biomass in replicate microcosm regions where one patch had a population of herbivores (Daphnia pulicaria) and one patch did not have herbivores. The effect of phytoplankton richness on standing phytoplankton biomass was positive but weak and not statistically significant at this regional scale. Among no-Daphnia patches, there was a significant positive effect of phytoplankton richness that resulted from positive selection effects for two dominant and productive species in polycultures. Among with-Daphnia patches there was not a significant effect of phytoplankton richness. The same two species dominated species-rich polycultures in no- and with-Daphnia patches but both species were relatively vulnerable to consumption by Daphnia. Consistent with previous studies, this experiment shows a measurable positive influence of primary producer richness on biomass when herbivores were absent. It also shows that given the patchy distribution of herbivores at a regional scale, a regional positive effect was not detected.
Data from: Is there a temperate bias in our understanding of how climate change will alter plant-herbivore interactions? A meta-analysis of experimental studies
Climate change can drive major shifts in community composition and interactions between resident species. However, the magnitude of these changes depends on the type of interactions and the biome in which they take place. We review the existing conceptual framework for how climate change will influence tropical plant-herbivore interactions and formalize a similar framework for the temperate zone. We then conduct the first biome-specific tests of how plant-herbivore interactions change in response to climate-driven changes in temperature, precipitation, ambient CO2, and ozone. We used quantitative meta-analysis to compare predicted and observed changes in experimental studies. Empirical studies were heavily biased toward temperate systems, so testing predicted changes in tropical plant-herbivore interactions was virtually impossible. Furthermore, most studies investigated the effects of CO2 with limited plant and herbivore species. Irrespective of location, most studies manipulated only one climate change factor despite the fact that different factors can act in synergy to alter responses of plants and herbivores. Finally, studies of belowground plant-herbivore interactions were also rare; those conducted suggest that climate change could have major effects on belowground subsystems. Our results suggest that there is a disconnection between the growing literature proposing how climate change will influence plant-herbivore interactions and the studies testing these predictions. General conclusions will also be hampered without better integration of above- and belowground systems, assessing the effects of multiple climate change factors simultaneously, and using greater diversity of species in experiments.
Data from: Dissolved iron elution from mangrove ecosystem associated with polyphenols and a herbivorous snail
Interest in the systems supplying dissolved forms of iron to the sea from upland-forests and wetlands has increased because iron is abundant on land but has low bioavailability in seawater. This can be a limiting factor for the growth of marine phytoplankton. Organic complex iron, a typical form of iron dissolved in seawater, is supplied to the ocean through rivers from forest and wetland soils. As a related study, we focus on mangrove ecosystems located at the boundary between the land and sea and on polyphenols present in leaves as ligands for the formation of iron complexes. When mangrove leaf litter falls on the wet forest floor, phenolic compounds leach out from the leaves and might solubilize insoluble iron in the sediments (i.e., iron complexation). However, the reaction mechanism is not simple in the field, and it might be made more complex by tidal currents and intervention by crabs and snails, which consume mangrove leaf litter. In the present study, we focused on a detritivorous snail, Terebralia palustris, as a facilitator of iron solubilization associated with phenolic compounds, and examined how the snail contribute to iron solubilization processes. Our results indicated that the amounts of phenolic compounds in mangrove sediments are strongly related to iron solubilization. Furthermore, the average dissolved iron and phenolic contents in sediments from areas inhabited by the snail were significantly higher than those of sediments where the snail was not present. We additionally report that the solubilization of iron was promoted when snail feces were added to mangrove sediments. In conclusion, we propose that iron solubilization in mangrove sediments is promoted by the interaction between i) iron in the sediment, ii) phenolic compounds derived from mangroves, and iii) the consumption of leaves and the deposition of feces by the snail.
Data from: Order of herbivore arrival on wild cabbage populations influences subsequent arthropod community development
In plant-arthropod associations, the first herbivores to colonise a plant may directly or indirectly affect community assembly on that particular plant. Whether the order of arrival of different arthropod species further modulates community assembly and affects plant fitness remains unclear. Using wild Brassica oleracea plants in the field, we manipulated the order of arrival of early-season herbivores that belong to different feeding guilds, namely the aphid Brevicoryne brassicae and caterpillars of Plutella xylostella. We investigated the effect of herbivore identity and order of arrival on community assembly on two B. oleracea plant populations during two growth seasons. For this perennial plant, we evaluated whether foliar herbivory also affected herbivore communities on the flowers and if these interactions affected plant seed production. Aphid infestation caused an increase in parasitoid abundance, but caterpillars modulated these effects, depending on the order of herbivore infestation and plant population. In the second growth season, when plants flowered, the order of infestation of leaves with aphids and caterpillars more strongly affected abundance of herbivores feeding on the flowers than those feeding on leaves. Infestation with caterpillars followed by aphids caused an increase in flower-feeding herbivores compared to the reversed order of infestation in one plant population, whereas the opposite effects were observed for the other plant population. The impact on plant seed set in the first reproductive year was limited. Our work shows that the identity and arrival order of early season herbivores may have long-term consequences for community composition on individual plants and that these patterns may vary among plant populations. We discuss how these community processes may affect plant fitness and speculate on the implications for evolution of plant defences.
Data from: Degree of specialization is related to body size in herbivorous insects: a phylogenetic confirmation
Numerous studies have suggested a general relationship between the degree of host specialization and body size in herbivorous animals. In insects, smaller species are usually shown to be more specialized than larger-bodied ones. Various hypotheses have attempted to explain this pattern but rigorous proof of the body size-diet breadth relationship has been lacking, primarily because the scarceness of reliable phylogenetic information has precluded formal comparative analyses. Explicitly using phylogenetic information for a group of herbivores (geometrid moths) and their host plant range, we perform a comparative analysis to study the body size-diet breadth relationship. Considering several alternative measures of body size and diet breadth, our results convincingly demonstrate without previous methodological issues – a first for any taxon – a positive association between these traits, which has implications for evaluating various central aspects of the evolutionary ecology of herbivorous insects. We additionally demonstrate how the methods used in this study can be applied in assessing hypotheses to explain the body size-diet breadth relationship. By analyzing the relationship in tree-feeders alone and finding that the positive relationship remains, the result suggests that the body size-diet breadth relationship is not solely driven by the type of host plant that species feed on.
Data from: The interaction between ambush predators, search patterns of herbivores and aggregations of plants
<p>While predators benefit from spatial overlap with their prey, prey strive to avoid predators. I used an individual-based simulation comprising sit-and-wait predators, widely-foraging herbivores, and plants, to examine the link between predator ambush location, herbivore movement, and plant aggregation. I used a genetic algorithm to reach the best strategies for all players. The predators could ambush herbivores either inside or outside plant patches. The herbivores could use movement of varying directionality levels, with a change in directionality following the detection of plants. When the predators were fixed outside plant patches, the herbivores were selected to use a directional movement before plant encounter followed by a tortuous movement afterwards. When predators were fixed inside patches, herbivores used a continuous directional movement. Predators maintained within-patch positions when the herbivores were fixed to use the directional-tortuous movement. The predator location inside patches led to higher plant aggregations, by changing the herbivore movement. Finally, I allowed half of the predators to search for herbivores and let them compete with sit-and-wait predators located inside plant patches. When plants were clumped and herbivores used a directional-tortuous movement, with a movement shift after plant detection, ambush predators had a higher success relative to widely-foraging predators. In all other scenarios, widely-foraging predators did much better than ambush predators. The findings from my simulation suggest a behavioral mechanism for several observed phenomena of predator-prey interactions, such as a shorter stay by herbivores in patches when predators ambush them nearby, and a more directional movement of herbivores in riskier habitats.</p>
Data from: Modulation of plant-mediated interactions between herbivores of different feeding guilds: effects of parasitism and belowground interactions
Herbivory affects subsequent herbivores, mainly regulated by the phytohormones jasmonic (JA) and salicylic acid (SA). Additionally, organisms such as soil microbes belowground or parasitoids that develop inside their herbivorous hosts aboveground, can change plant responses to herbivory. However, it is not yet well known how organisms of trophic levels other than herbivores, below- and above-ground, alter the interactions between insect species sharing a host plant. Here, we investigated whether the parasitoid Aphidius colemani and different soil microbial communities (created through plant-soil feedbacks) affect the JA and SA signalling pathways in response to the aphid Myzus persicae and the thrips Frankliniella occidentalis, as well as subsequent thrips performance. Our results show that the expression of the JA-responsive gene CaPINII in sweet pepper was more suppressed by aphids than by parasitised aphids. However, parasitism did not affect the expression of CaPAL1, a biosynthetic gene of SA. Furthermore, aphid feeding enhanced thrips performance compared with uninfested plants, but this was not observed when aphids were parasitised. Soils where different plant species were previously grown, did not affect plant responses or the interaction between herbivores. Our study shows that members of the third trophic level can modify herbivore interactions by altering plant physiology.
Short-term plant-community responses to large mammalian herbivore exclusion in a rewilded Javan savanna
<p>Grassy biomes such as savannas are maintained by a suite of ecosystem processes from herbivory to rainfall and fire. Many studies have examined the impacts of large mammalian herbivores on herbaceous plant communities but few of these studies have been conducted in humid, fertile savannas. We present the findings of a short-term experiment that investigated the effects of herbivory in one such savanna. We erected large-herbivore exclosures in Alas Purwo National Park, Java where rainfall is high and fire is suppressed to test how herbivores impact plant community development during and in response to the wet season. When large mammalian herbivores were excluded, herbaceous plant communities in Alas Purwo were less grassy and less similar; diverging in their composition as the growing season progressed. Notably, weedy plant species (Imperata cylindrica and Senna cf. tora) appeared to benefit most from herbivore release. Our results suggest that heavy grazing pressure by native large herbivores controlled the composition of the herbaceous layer and prevented strong light competitors from becoming dominant. At the end of the growing season, herbivore exclusion plots showed higher beta diversity than plots exposed to herbivores. Our findings suggest that, at our high-rainfall site, large mammalian herbivores constrain the developmental trajectory of plant communities through the growing season.</p>
Revealing cryptic interactions between large mammalian herbivores and plant-dwelling arthropods via DNA metabarcoding
<p><span>In the past decade, it has become clear that omnivory, feeding on more than one trophic level, is important in natural and agricultural systems. Large mammalian herbivores (LMH) frequently encounter plant-dwelling arthropods (PDA) on their food plants. Yet, ingestion of PDA by LMH is only rarely addressed and the extent of this direct trophic interaction, especially at the PDA community level, remains unknown. Using a DNA metabarcoding analysis on feces of free-ranging cattle from a replicated field experiment of heavily and moderately grazed paddocks, we reveal that feeding cattle (incidentally) ingest an entire food-chain of PDA including herbivores, predators and parasites. Overall, 25 families of insects and 4 families of arachnids were ingested, a pattern that varied over the season, but not with grazing intensity. We identified the functional groups of PDA vulnerable to ingestion, such as sessile species and immature life stages. Most of the fecal samples (76%) contained sequences belonging to PDA, indicating that direct interactions are frequent. This study highlights the complex trophic connections between LMH and PDA. It may even be appropriate to consider LMH as omnivorous enemies of PDA. </span></p>
Data from: Vertebrate scavenging dynamics differ between carnivore and herbivore carcasses in the northern boreal forest
<p>Vertebrate scavenging can impact food web dynamics, but our understanding of this process stems predominantly from monitoring herbivore carrion and extrapolating results across carcass types. Recent evidence suggests carnivores may avoid intraguild scavenging to reduce parasite transmission. If this behavior is widespread across diverse ecosystems, estimation of nutrient cycling and community scavenging rates are likely biased to a currently unknown degree. We examined whether the time to initiate scavenging, carcass persistence, or the richness of species scavenging in the boreal forest of Yukon, Canada, differed between carnivore and herbivore carcasses. Vertebrates took longer to initiate scavenging on carnivore carcasses (3.2 days) relative to herbivore carcasses (1.1 days), and carnivore carcasses persisted on the landscape for over a month longer (48.4 days and 5.5 days, respectively). The longer persistence times were due to the reduction in scavenging by carnivores such as Canada lynx (<i>Lynx canadensis</i>). Decreased scavenging was caused by changes in the propensity to consume carnivore carrion, as the number of species detecting a carcass within the first week did not differ between carnivore and herbivore carcasses. These results have ramifications for our understanding of nutrient cycling and food web dynamics in the boreal forest, and provide further support that carcass type should be included in future studies.</p>
Context-Dependent Effects of a Reintroduced Ungulate on Soil Properties are Driven by Soil Texture, Moisture and Herbivore Activity
<p>Although there is considerable evidence that large mammalian herbivores influence ecosystem-level processes, studies have reported such widely varying results that generalizations have remained elusive. Here, we use an 18-year-old exclosure experiment – stratified across a landscape heterogeneous with respect to soil texture, moisture and herbivore activity – to understand the variable effects of tule elk (<i>Cervus canadensis nannodes</i>), a native reintroduced herbivore, on soil properties along the coast of northern California. Elk significantly increased soil bulk density and created a compacted layer at shallow soil depth, while decreasing infiltration rate and pH. The effects of elk on bulk density, penetration resistance and pH varied with soil type, being least pronounced in coarse, sandy loams and greatest in loose sand. The effects of elk on nutrient availability varied along gradients of soil texture and moisture. In coarser soils, elk decreased ammonium availability, but increased it in finer soils. Elk also decreased soil moisture content, in part through their positive effect on bulk density, and this effect was most pronounced in coarser soils. Through decreasing soil moisture content, elk also decreased nitrate availability in coarser soils. At greater levels of elk activity (as measured by dung deposition), the elk effect on bulk density was amplified, and this had a corresponding negative effect on nitrate and phosphate availability. Our study has demonstrated that a better understanding of spatial variation in the effects of herbivores on ecosystems can emerge by evaluating their influences across gradients of soil texture, soil moisture, and herbivore activity. These data enabled us to evaluate several frameworks that have been developed to understand the variable effects of herbivores on ecosystems, which is a significant step in reconciling the many competing ideas put forth to explain the context-dependent effects of large herbivores on grazed ecosystems.</p>
Figure 2 in Seasonality and abundance of Metamasius callizona (Coleoptera: Dryophthoridae), an invasive insect herbivore, on two species of Tillandsia (Bromeliaceae) in Florida
Figure 2. Tillandsia utriculata is a monocarpic, tank bromeliad with soft, pliant leaves.
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