Herbivory on temperate rainforest seedlings in sun and shade: resistance, tolerance and habitat distribution.

PloS One
Cristian Salgado-Luarte, Ernesto Gianoli

Abstract

Differential herbivory and/or differential plant resistance or tolerance in sun and shade environments may influence plant distribution along the light gradient. Embothrium coccineum is one of the few light-demanding tree species in the temperate rainforest of southern South America, and seedlings are frequently attacked by insects and snails. Herbivory may contribute to the exclusion of E. coccineum from the shade if 1) herbivory pressure is greater in the shade, which in turn can result from shade plants being less resistant or from habitat preferences of herbivores, and/or 2) consequences of damage are more detrimental in the shade, i.e., shade plants are less tolerant. We tested this in a field study with naturally established seedlings in treefall gaps (sun) and forest understory (shade) in a temperate rainforest of southern Chile. Seedlings growing in the sun sustained nearly 40% more herbivore damage and displayed half of the specific leaf area than those growing in the shade. A palatability test showed that a generalist snail consumed ten times more leaf area when fed on shade leaves compared to sun leaves, i.e., plant resistance was greater in sun-grown seedlings. Herbivore abundance (total biomass) was two-fold greate...Continue Reading

References

May 14, 1999·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·S Y Strauss, A A Agrawal
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Citations

Jul 7, 2012·The American Naturalist·Cristian Salgado-Luarte, Ernesto Gianoli
Sep 8, 2016·Frontiers in Plant Science·Michael G CrippsAlfonso Susanna
May 28, 2019·American Journal of Botany·Frida I PiperAlex Fajardo
May 12, 2017·Biology Letters·Ernesto Gianoli, Cristian Salgado-Luarte

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