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10 results for “seed herbivore”
Effects of Herbivores on Seed Banks of Grass and Shrublands at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, New Mexico (2004)
Grazers and granivores have the potential to affect seed banks. Several studies have examined the impact of these herbivores on the aboveground vegetation, but few have looked at how they influence the seed bank. I asked whether both grazers and granivores alter the seed bank at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge. Long-term experimental plots were installed in 1996 to exclude grazers and granivores from a grassland and shrubland. Soil samples were collected from these plots and seeds were germinated in a greenhouse. The grassland had significantly more species in its seed bank than the shrubland. Also, the seed bank composition differed significantly between the two sites. However, the number of species in the seed bank did not vary among herbivore treatments nor did total seed numbers vary among treatments at the grassland. At the shrubland, in contrast, plots that excluded both herbivores had fewer total seeds than control plots and plots where only grazers were excluded. Therefore, although herbivores play some role in the shrubland, herbivores do not reduce seed numbers at either site. Thus, seed bank size is not controlled by the consumption of seeds from these herbivores, but by some other factor (e.g. disturbance or abiotic events).
Parasitoids of leaf herbivores enhance plant fitness and do not alter caterpillar-induced resistance against seed beetles
<p>1. Organisms of the third trophic level can indirectly interact with plants. However, whether parasitoids of herbivores have a positive effect on plant fitness has been controversial. In addition to possible effects on plant fitness, parasitoid-mitigated herbivory can modify plant physiological responses and thereby alter the plant-mediated indirect interactions between different herbivore species. These types of indirect multitrophic interactions remain largely unexplored. Thus, to understand the full effect of the third trophic level on plants, it is necessary to consider the context of the community of interacting species, both herbivores and their enemies.</p> <p>2. Here, we investigated if parasitoids of leaf-feeding caterpillars affect plant fitness (seed quantity and quality) and the consequences for seed-dwelling insects at the second and third trophic levels through plant mediated effects. To test this, we exposed lima bean plants (<i>Phaseolus lunatus</i>), under controlled field conditions, to unparasitized caterpillars (<i>Spodoptera latifascia</i>) or caterpillars that were parasitized by the parasitoid species <i>Cotesia marginiventris</i>. Later in the season, we measured seed production and infestation by seed beetles and their parasitoids.</p> <p>3. We found that parasitoids significantly reduced the leaf damage inflicted by the caterpillars, such that the plants suffered no loss in seed production. Yet, parasitoids had no effect on the emergence of seed beetles (<i>Zabrotes subfasciatus</i> and <i>Acanthoscelides obtectus</i>), which was equally reduced in plants attacked by unparasitized and by parasitized caterpillars. Seeds from undamaged plants were significantly more attacked by <i>Z. subfasciatus</i> beetles. Parasitism rates of seed beetle larvae were similar for all treatments.</p> <p>4. Although parasitized caterpillars did not damage the plants enough to reduce seed production (unlike unparasitized caterpillars), the damage they inflicted induced resistance against other herbivores. Taken together, these results reveal how parasitoids can indirectly enhance plant fitness in the context of the local ecological networks. These findings have significant implications for natural and agricultural systems since they reveal that the indirect interaction between plants and parasitoids can be beneficial in communities with multiple herbivore species.</p>
Parasitoids of leaf herbivores enhance plant fitness and do not alter caterpillar-induced resistance against seed beetles
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Impacts of wild herbivores on soil seed banks are explained by precipitation conditions in protected areas across semi-arid to arid regions
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Data from: Scatterhoarders drive long- and short-term population dynamics of a nut-producing tree, while pre-dispersal seed predators and herbivores have little effect
1.Both seed predators and herbivores can have profound effects on individual plant growth, reproduction and survival, but their population level effects are less well understood. While most plants interact with a suite of seed predators and herbivores over their life cycle, few studies incorporate the effects of multiple interacting partners and multiple life stages on plant population growth. 2.We constructed a matrix model using six years of data from a rare, seed-producing population of American chestnut (Castanea dentata). We combined field demographic data with published experimental results on the effects of pre-dispersal seed predators (weevils) and post-dispersal seed predators (scatter-hoarding vertebrates) and incorporated the effect of vertebrate herbivores estimated from the field data. We explored the impact of these three different animal interactions for short-term (transient) and long-term (asymptotic) tree population growth. In addition, we used the model to explore the conditions under which scatter-hoarding would function as a mutualism. 3.Seed predators had greater effect on both short- and long-term population growth than herbivores. Although weevil infestation can greatly reduce the probability of germination, pre-dispersal seed predators had smaller effects on both short- or long-term population growth than post-dispersal predators. The elasticities of weevil-related parameters were also small. The effect of browsers on both the short- and long-term population growth rate were the smallest of the effects studied. Post-dispersal seed predation affected population growth the most of the interactions studied. The probability of seed removal was amongst the largest elasticities, similar in magnitude to survival of large trees. 4.Synthesis Our results indicate that neither weevils nor the intensity of browse damage observed at our study site are likely to hinder tree regeneration or reintroduction, though both reduced population growth. Although researchers and forest managers often assume that seeds are unimportant for long-lived tree populations, our test of this assumption shows that scatterhoarders and other post-dispersal seed consumers can significantly limit natural regeneration. Forest management that alters scatterhoarder behaviour could have significant effects on tree population dynamics that are largely unexplored.
Top-down cascading effects of seed-feeding beetles and their parasitoids on plants and leaf herbivores
<p><span>When feeding on a plant, herbivorous insects alter the quality of the plant as a food source. This affects other organisms interacting with the same plant. These so-called 'plant-mediated interactions' can be altered by parasitoids that attack the herbivores. So far, this research area has mainly focused on interactions at the leaf level, and very little is known about plant-mediated interactions via seeds. </span><span>It is still poorly understood if seeds that survive insect damage have fewer resources to allocate to plant growth and defence against leaf herbivores, and whether parasitoids that kill seed-feeding insects mitigate such negative effects.</span></p> <p><span>Using seeds of wild lima bean plants (<em>Phaseolus lunatus</em>) we studied the effect of the intensity of infestation by seed beetles (<em>Zabrotes subfasciatus</em>) and their parasitoids (<em>Stenocorse bruchivora</em>) on the following parameters under lab conditions: seed mass and germination, plant growth and defensive compounds (cyanogenic glycosides and flavonoids) and performance of a leaf herbivore species (<em>Spodoptera latifascia</em>). In addition, we performed a field experiment using seeds with or without insect damage to investigate the consequences on plant performance and fitness in the wild.</span></p> <p><span>Seed beetle infestation had an overall negative impact on seed germination. Lab experiments revealed that damaged seeds produced plants with slower growth and reduced concentration of defensive compounds, which increased the performance of the leaf herbivores. Effects of seed-feeding on seed germination and plant growth were attenuated by parasitism, resulting in a net increase of the number of viable offspring. In the field, we observed that seed damage impaired germination, delayed flowering time and increased leaf herbivory.</span></p> <p><span>Our results show that plant-mediated interactions between insect herbivores are not limited to leaf herbivores but extend to seed herbivores. In our study system, parasitoids had no apparent effect on these interactions, despite their strong beneficial effects on germination and plant performance. These findings confirm the long-lasting consequences of indirect plant-mediated interactions in a community-wide ecological context. Furthermore, they contribute to a better understanding of the important but understudied effects of parasitoids on plant fitness.</span></p>
Figure 2 in An annotated checklist of the herbivores and seed predators of Mimulus guttatus
Figure 2. Herbivore richness in surveys and literature records of animals feeding on Mimulus guttatus. (a). Species richness for different regions of M. guttatus range WNA = western North America, UK = United Kingdom, ENA = eastern North America. (b). Species richness between different major groups. (c). Insect species richness of insect orders. (d). Insect species richness for insect families.
Figure 1 in An annotated checklist of the herbivores and seed predators of Mimulus guttatus
Figure 1. Field damage and herbivores on Mimulus guttatus. (a). Leaf mining damage (Chromatomyia sp.) from an Alaskan plant. (b). Aphids attack a plant in California USA. (c). Philaenus spumarius feeding along with signs of caterpillar damage on a plant from New Brunswick Canada. (d). Deer feeding damage from plant in Michigan USA. (e). Sawfly larvae feeding on a flower in Scotland United Kingdom. (f). A very photogenic horse feeding on whole plants in England United Kingdom.
Data from: Scatterhoarders drive long- and short-term population dynamics of a nut-producing tree, while pre-dispersal seed predators and herbivores have little effect
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Top-down cascading effects of seed-feeding beetles and their parasitoids on plants and leaf herbivores
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