Overcompensation in response to mammalian herbivory: The advantage of being eaten
-
-
Authors: K. N. Paige, and T. G. Whitham
Date: 1987
Journal: The American Naturalist
Volume: 129
Number: 3
Pages: 407-416
Summary of Methods: Plants of scarlet gilia, Ipomopsis aggregata, are exposed to high levels of mammalian herbivory (by mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus, and elk, Cervus elaphus) early in the season, before flowering. During the period of this study, up to 56% of all individuals experienced a 95% reduction in aboveground biomass. Browsed plants rapidly responded by producing new inflorescences and flowering within 3 weeks. Unbrowsed plants produced only single inflorescences, whereas browsed plants produced multiple inflorescences. Field observations and experimental manipulations showed that plants with multiple inflorescences produced significantly greater numbers of flowers and fruits than unbrowsed individuals. There was no difference in between browsed and unbrowsed individuals in the number of seeds produced per fruit, seed weight, subsequent germination success, and survival. Relative fitness, in terms of seed production and subsequent seeding survival, averages 2.4 times that of the uneaten controls. The authors conclude that under natural field conditions plants can benefit from the effects of herbivory.
Article Summary / Main Points: None
Vegetation Types:
MLRA Ecoregions:
Agrovoc Control Words: Riparian zones Rangelands Wildlife
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: scarlet gilia, ipomopsis aggregata, browsing, compensatory growth, mule deer, odocoileus hemionus, elk, cervus elaphus, herbivory
Annotation: To test mammalian herbivory experimentally, they chose 40 uneaten plants of similar size and height early in the season after inflorescences had fully elongated but not yet flowered. To simulate high levels of natural herbivory by mule deer and elk, 20 plants were clipped, having over 95% of their entire aboveground biomass removed. The remaining 20 plants served as the control. Season of use is described as doing censuses early and late in the season. Scarlet gilia flowers from early July-late September.
-
Get article
Cite article with DOI
-