Geographic variation in the sensitivity of an herbivore-induced seaweed defense

Ecology
Emily Jones, Jeremy D Long

Abstract

Intraspecific variation in primary producer induced defenses may affect how these defenses contribute to population and community regulation. For instance, inducible defenses may play larger roles in primary producer populations that are sensitive to low levels of grazing than populations that only respond to high levels of grazing. Although the incidence of herbivore-induced defenses is well documented, and there are examples of geographic variation in these defenses, we have limited knowledge of the factors that affect sensitivity to grazing (i.e., the minimum grazer density needed to elicit these responses) within and among populations. Filling this gap is necessary to understand the importance of these defenses under different conditions. To address whether the sensitivity of seaweed induced defenses varies geographically, we exposed Northern and Southern California populations of the seaweed Silvetia compressa to five densities of the snail Tegula funebralis, under ambient, regional environmental conditions. Southern seaweeds required high levels of grazing to induce defenses, while all levels of herbivory decreased Northern seaweed palatability. To better understand these different responses to low levels of grazing, we c...Continue Reading

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