Spatially distinct responses within willow to bark stripping by deer: effects on insect herbivory

Abstract

Within individual plants, cervid herbivory may cause positive or negative plant-mediated effects on insect herbivores, depending on where it occurs. Using a combination of field observations and artificial bark-stripping experiments in Hokkaido, Japan, we examined the plant-mediated effects of bark stripping by sika deer (Cervus nippon yesoensis) on insect herbivory in two spatially distinct parts of willow (Salix udensis) trees: resprouting leaves below bark-stripping wounds and canopy leaves above. Natural and artificial bark stripping stimulated resprouting from trunks below wounds. Resprouting leaves on bark-stripped trees had lower total phenolics, condensed tannin, and C/N ratios than did canopy leaves on control trees. Herbivory rates were higher in resprouting leaves on bark-stripped trees than in canopy leaves on controls. Conversely, above-wound canopy leaves on bark-stripped trees had higher total phenolics than did those on controls, while herbivory rates were lower in the canopy leaves of bark-stripped trees than in those on controls. These results demonstrate that plant-mediated effects of bark stripping diverge between plant tissues below and above wounds in individual willow trees. We submit that focusing on multiple plant parts can elucidate plant-mediated effects at the whole-plant scale.

Plant volatiles and priority effects interactively determined initial community assembly of arthropods on multiple willow species

“…Long‐term (months to years) studies suggest that deer herbivory can induce changes in plant physical and chemical traits (Bryant, 2003 ; Den Herder et al, 2004 ; Stephan et al, 2017 ; Tanaka & Nakamura, 2015 ), but it remains unclear what can happen in the short term (9 days). To the best of our knowledge, there have been no studies on mammal‐induced PVOCs.…”

Differential Impacts of Willow and Mineral Fertilizer on Bacterial Communities and Biodegradation in Diesel Fuel Oil-Contaminated Soil

“…The genus Salix is a large, taxonomically complex genus, with 300–500 different species found primarily in cold and temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere ( Argus, 1999 ). Willows are known for their rapid growth, flood tolerance, and ease of vegetative propagation, and their tissues characteristically contain a diverse assortment of phenolics ( Julkunentiitto, 1989 ; Pulford and Watson, 2003 ), some of which are released in response to wounding or defense ( Fields and Orians, 2006 ; Nováková et al, 2014 ; Tanaka and Nakamura, 2015 ). Willows also release phenolic compounds into the rhizosphere through exudation and cell lysis during fall root turnover.…”