PARENT SESSION
Poster Session #4: Herbivory.
Monday, August 5. Presentation from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM. Exhibit Hall B & C, TCC
54
The herbivory uncertainty principle revisted.
Went, Sarah*,1, Bradley, Kate1, Damschen, Ellen2, Young, Lauren1, Haddad, Nick2, Knops, Johannes1, Louda, Svata1, 1 School of Biological Sciences, University of Nebraska, Lincoln2 Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
ABSTRACT- Visiting plants is an inherent part of studying herbivory. Recently, it has been suggested that the act of visitation itself may alter plant herbivory. The prevalence of the effects of visitation needs verification. In this study, we examined 14 species of plants across three different regions to investigate if visitation caused bias. Visitation did not significantly alter leaf damage or survivorship in any of the 14 species we examined. However, visited Potentilla recta individuals were significantly shorter than the controls, due to deer herbivory. Site differences had a much stronger influence on rates of insect herbivory than any potential effects caused by experimenter. Since visitation effects did not appear to be common, herbivory studies stand to gain much more information by incorporating multiple sites rather than an additional visitation treatment.
KEY WORDS: experimental methods, herbivory, observer effect, site effect