Grasshopper attack and water balance of the shrub Gutierrezia microcephala
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Authors: M. A. Parker
Date: 1985
Journal: American Midland Naturalist
Volume: 113
Number: 1
Pages: 193-197
Summary of Methods: The effects of grasshopper herbivory on stem water potential of threadleaf snakeweed plants were examined in two experiments on the Bernalillo watershed north of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Experiment one examined the direct effects of three grazing (0, 3 and 6 grasshoppers per plant) intensity treatments on stem water potential. Cages made of aluminum window screen and grasshoppers were placed over each plant, with stem water potential measured at day 1, 7, 12, 16. In the second experiment, plants were exposed to very high levels of grazing intensity for 48 hours with stem water potential measured after 48 hours.
Article Summary / Main Points: After 16 days of grasshopper grazing exposure plants had significantly lower water potentials than non grazed plants. There was no significant difference in plant water potential in plants that were stocked very intensely at 12 grasshoppers per plant for 48 hours and plants that received no herbivory. Plants that received the most damage had the lowest plant water potential. These results conflict with the stated hypothesis, that grasshopper herbivory would have a significant effect on plant water capacity.
Vegetation Types: Mountain Shrublands Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands (includes juniper woodlands)
MLRA Ecoregions: 36 Southwestern Plateaus, Mesas, and Foothills 39 Arizona and New Mexico Mountains
Agrovoc Control Words: Weeds Rangelands Grasshoppers
Article Review Type: Refereed
Article Type: Experimental Research
Keywords: plant water, gutierrezia microcephala, hesperotettix viridis, grasshopper herbivory, feeding damage, arid grassland, plant performance
Annotation: This study examined insect herbivory and not ungulate herbivory and has little application to RSIS.
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