Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe
Studies of herbivory and its consequences on the growth of native and exotic plants could help elucidate some processes involved in plant invasions. Introduced species are likely to experience reduced herbivory in their new range due to the absence of specialist enemies and, thus, may have higher be...
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paper:paper_09123814_v27_n5_p903_Pirk2023-06-08T15:49:58Z Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe Pirk, Gabriela Inés Farji Brener, Alejandro G. Herbivorous insect Leaf herbivory Plant compensation Plant invasion Tolerance adaptation biological invasion compensation competitive ability disturbance greenhouse ecosystem growth rate herbivory invasive species native species plant-herbivore interaction plant-insect interaction specialist steppe tolerance Patagonia Hexapoda Studies of herbivory and its consequences on the growth of native and exotic plants could help elucidate some processes involved in plant invasions. Introduced species are likely to experience reduced herbivory in their new range due to the absence of specialist enemies and, thus, may have higher benefits if they reduce the investment in resistance and increase their compensatory capacity. In order to evaluate the role of herbivory in disturbed areas within the Patagonian steppe, we quantified and compared the leaf levels of herbivory of four native and five exotic species and recorded the associated insect fauna. We also performed greenhouse experiments in which we simulated herbivory in order to evaluate the compensatory capacity of native and exotic species under different herbivory levels that resembled naturally occurring damage. Natural herbivory levels in the field were similar between the studied exotic and native plants. Field observations confirmed that they both shared some herbivore insects, most of which are generalists. In the greenhouse experiments, both exotic and native plants fully compensated for herbivory. Our results suggest that the studied exotic plants are not released from herbivory in the Patagonian steppe but are able to fully compensate for it. The capacity to recover from herbivory coupled with other potential adaptations, such as a better performance under disturbance and greater competitive ability than that of the native species, may represent some of the mechanisms responsible for the success of plant invasion in the Patagonian steppe. © 2012 The Ecological Society of Japan. Fil:Pirk, G.I. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. Fil:Farji-Brener, A.G. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales; Argentina. 2012 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_09123814_v27_n5_p903_Pirk http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_09123814_v27_n5_p903_Pirk |
institution |
Universidad de Buenos Aires |
institution_str |
I-28 |
repository_str |
R-134 |
collection |
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
topic |
Herbivorous insect Leaf herbivory Plant compensation Plant invasion Tolerance adaptation biological invasion compensation competitive ability disturbance greenhouse ecosystem growth rate herbivory invasive species native species plant-herbivore interaction plant-insect interaction specialist steppe tolerance Patagonia Hexapoda |
spellingShingle |
Herbivorous insect Leaf herbivory Plant compensation Plant invasion Tolerance adaptation biological invasion compensation competitive ability disturbance greenhouse ecosystem growth rate herbivory invasive species native species plant-herbivore interaction plant-insect interaction specialist steppe tolerance Patagonia Hexapoda Pirk, Gabriela Inés Farji Brener, Alejandro G. Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe |
topic_facet |
Herbivorous insect Leaf herbivory Plant compensation Plant invasion Tolerance adaptation biological invasion compensation competitive ability disturbance greenhouse ecosystem growth rate herbivory invasive species native species plant-herbivore interaction plant-insect interaction specialist steppe tolerance Patagonia Hexapoda |
description |
Studies of herbivory and its consequences on the growth of native and exotic plants could help elucidate some processes involved in plant invasions. Introduced species are likely to experience reduced herbivory in their new range due to the absence of specialist enemies and, thus, may have higher benefits if they reduce the investment in resistance and increase their compensatory capacity. In order to evaluate the role of herbivory in disturbed areas within the Patagonian steppe, we quantified and compared the leaf levels of herbivory of four native and five exotic species and recorded the associated insect fauna. We also performed greenhouse experiments in which we simulated herbivory in order to evaluate the compensatory capacity of native and exotic species under different herbivory levels that resembled naturally occurring damage. Natural herbivory levels in the field were similar between the studied exotic and native plants. Field observations confirmed that they both shared some herbivore insects, most of which are generalists. In the greenhouse experiments, both exotic and native plants fully compensated for herbivory. Our results suggest that the studied exotic plants are not released from herbivory in the Patagonian steppe but are able to fully compensate for it. The capacity to recover from herbivory coupled with other potential adaptations, such as a better performance under disturbance and greater competitive ability than that of the native species, may represent some of the mechanisms responsible for the success of plant invasion in the Patagonian steppe. © 2012 The Ecological Society of Japan. |
author |
Pirk, Gabriela Inés Farji Brener, Alejandro G. |
author_facet |
Pirk, Gabriela Inés Farji Brener, Alejandro G. |
author_sort |
Pirk, Gabriela Inés |
title |
Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe |
title_short |
Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe |
title_full |
Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe |
title_fullStr |
Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe |
title_full_unstemmed |
Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe |
title_sort |
foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the patagonian steppe |
publishDate |
2012 |
url |
https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_09123814_v27_n5_p903_Pirk http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_09123814_v27_n5_p903_Pirk |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT pirkgabrielaines foliarherbivoryanditseffectsonplantgrowthinnativeandexoticspeciesinthepatagoniansteppe AT farjibreneralejandrog foliarherbivoryanditseffectsonplantgrowthinnativeandexoticspeciesinthepatagoniansteppe |
_version_ |
1768545425073111040 |