Herbivory Lab (Ecology)

August 1 , 2010

Comparison of herbivory patterns among three random plant species found in the riparian zone of Little River

Introduction : The consumption of plants in part or whole by an organism which may be as small as a termite or as large as an elephant is termed as herbivory . Herbivory can be both detrimental and beneficial to the plant (Crawley , 1983 . Low levels of grazing stimulates the plant to grow in some cases while excessive grazing on the other hand may cause the plant to perish . Also , herbivorous insects which on

one hand might aid in pollination can on the other cause damage to the plant 's reproductive organs . Apart from this herbivory prevents dominance by one fast growing plant species and is the first step in unlocking the energy stored in the green biomass . Another interesting aspect of herbivory are the defenses that have been developed by plants in the process of evolution to protect themselves from herbivores and increase their chances of survival ( HYPERLINK "http /www .ncbi .nlm .nih .gov /pubmed ?term 22Rasmann 20S 22 5BAuthor 5D Rasmann and HYPERLINK "http /www .ncbi .nlm .nih .gov /pubmed ?term 22Agrawal 20AA 22 5BAuthor 5D Agrawal , 2009 . These defense mechanisms include thorns , waxy cuticles , thick barks and toxic secretions . Some herbivores , however have adapted to these defenses and this helps achieve a balance beneficial to both plants and herbivores (Burkepile and Hay , 2008

Methods : Five replicate members of three random plant species growing in the riparian zone were selected...