Importance of tolerance to herbivory for plant survival in a British grassland

del‐Val, Ek; Crawley, Michael J.

doi:10.1111/j.1654-1103.2004.tb02272.x

Cited by 19 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Some authors showed that plants in burned areas tended to show a greater proportion of flowering individuals (Brewer and Platt 1994;Menges and Quintana-Ascencio 2004). Grazing is known to delay flowering time, due to a general decreased reproductive output that reduces growth and flowering (Ehrlén 1997;del Val and Crawley 2004). In our study we observed that areas recently burned (B0) and burned 1 year before showed the highest number of reproductive individuals in comparison to the other areas (B2 and B+).…”

Section: Resprouting Capacitymentioning

confidence: 35%

Effects of disturbance on population biology of the rosette species Eryngium horridum Malme in grasslands in southern Brazil

et al. 2007

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The Southern Grassland biome in Brazil has long been neglected by the government and by the scientific community as well. Lack of studies about the effects of disturbance (mostly fire and grazing) on plant community and populations are the main hindrances for the future management plans, which complicates the conservation of this rich and unique biome. In this study, the population biology of a rosette species, Eryngium horridum (Apiaceae), has been investigated, in order to compare the effects of fire, grazing and abandonment. E. horridum is a very common species and many farmers consider it a nuisance. Two different areas were chosen for the study purposes: Morro Santana and the Research Center Pró-Mata. Areas under different types (fire and grazing) and disturbance histories were compared. Populations were analysed in plots of 25 m 2 , divided in age-state classes (seedlings, young, adult and reproductive individuals). Both morphological and phenological traits have been investigated. Fire influenced populations in a direct way, whilst grazing showed an indirect effect. Seedlings were found only in areas excluded from disturbance for 3 years on Morro Santana. Due to this, seedling establishment might be more related to environmental conditions than to disturbance regimes. Young individuals were mainly found in recently burned areas, while adult individuals were dominant in areas excluded from disturbance. Additionally, individuals from E. horridum showed a great capacity of resprouting after plant damage. Reproductive individuals also showed the capacity of producing new rosettes after the death of the inflorescence axis. This strategy is probably of great importance for the survival of populations in areas excluded from disturbance. Therefore, vegetative reproduction seemed to be the most important strategy for the maintenance and survival of its populations, allowing longer population persistence over time, even in the absence of disturbance.

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Section: Resprouting Capacitymentioning

confidence: 35%

Effects of disturbance on population biology of the rosette species Eryngium horridum Malme in grasslands in southern Brazil

et al. 2007

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“…del Val and Crawley 2004). Our study shows that even species within the grass functional group may exhibit considerable differences depending on local environmental conditions, including indirect influences from neighbouring plant species (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Functional identity versus species richness: herbivory resistance in plant communities

Scherber

Heimann²,

Köhler³

et al. 2010

Oecologia

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The resistance of a plant community against herbivore attack may depend on plant species richness, with monocultures often much more severely affected than mixtures of plant species. Here, we used a plant–herbivore system to study the effects of selective herbivory on consumption resistance and recovery after herbivory in 81 experimental grassland plots. Communities were established from seed in 2002 and contained 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 or 60 plant species of 1, 2, 3 or 4 functional groups. In 2004, pairs of enclosure cages (1 m tall, 0.5 m diameter) were set up on all 81 plots. One randomly selected cage of each pair was stocked with 10 male and 10 female nymphs of the meadow grasshopper, Chorthippus parallelus. The grasshoppers fed for 2 months, and the vegetation was monitored over 1 year. Consumption resistance and recovery of vegetation were calculated as proportional changes in vegetation biomass. Overall, grasshopper herbivory averaged 6.8%. Herbivory resistance and recovery were influenced by plant functional group identity, but independent of plant species richness and number of functional groups. However, herbivory induced shifts in vegetation composition that depended on plant species richness. Grasshopper herbivory led to increases in herb cover at the expense of grasses. Herb cover increased more strongly in species-rich mixtures. We conclude that selective herbivory changes the functional composition of plant communities and that compositional changes due to selective herbivory depend on plant species richness.

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“…Herbivory is a major selective pressure affecting plant physiology and plant fitness (Karban and Strauss 1993, Hulme 1996a, Bigger and Marvier 1998, plant community composition and succession (Brown 1985, Gibson et al 1987, Brown and Gange 1992, Hulme 1996b, del-Val and Crawley 2004, and plant evolution (Holeski et al 2010 and references therein). Since the capacity of plants to resist and/or tolerate herbivory is mediated by their functional characteristics (i.e., traits sensu Violle et al 2007), plant species differing in their traits can show large differences in rates of herbivory.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Predicting invertebrate herbivory from plant traits: evidence from 51 grassland species in experimental monocultures

Loranger

Meyer

Shipley

et al. 2012

Ecology

135

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Invertebrate herbivores can impact plant performance and plant communities. Conversely, plants can affect the ability of herbivores to find, choose, and consume them through their functional traits. While single plant traits have been related to rates of herbivory, most often involving single herbivore-plant pairs, much less is known about which suite of plant traits is important for determining herbivory for a pool of plant species interacting with a natural herbivore community. In this study we measured aboveground herbivore damage on 51 herbaceous species growing in monocultures of a grassland biodiversity experiment and collected 42 different plant traits representing four trait groups: physiological, morphological, phenological, and herbivore related. Using the method of random forests and multiple regression, we identified seven traits that are important predictors of herbivore damage (leaf nitrogen and lignin concentration, number of coleopteran and hemipteran herbivores potentially feeding on the plants, leaf life span, stem growth form, and root architecture); leaf nitrogen and lignin concentration were the two most important predictors. The final model accounted for 63% of the variation in herbivore damage. Traits from all four trait groups were selected, showing that a variety of plant characteristics can be statistically important when assessing folivory, including root traits. Our results emphasize that it is necessary to use a multivariate approach for identifying traits affecting complex ecological processes such as herbivory.

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Importance of tolerance to herbivory for plant survival in a British grassland

Cited by 19 publications

References 44 publications

Effects of disturbance on population biology of the rosette species Eryngium horridum Malme in grasslands in southern Brazil

Effects of disturbance on population biology of the rosette species Eryngium horridum Malme in grasslands in southern Brazil

Functional identity versus species richness: herbivory resistance in plant communities

Predicting invertebrate herbivory from plant traits: evidence from 51 grassland species in experimental monocultures

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