Hanley Mick E, Lamont Byron B
School of Environmental Biology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, 6845, Perth, WA, Australia.
Oecologia. 2001 Feb;126(3):409-417. doi: 10.1007/s004420000538. Epub 2001 Feb 1.
We examined how acceptability characteristics displayed by 28-day-old seedlings of 12 species of Western Australian Proteaceae affect the likelihood of seedling herbivory in the field. The seedling attributes quantified were cotyledon phenolic, cyanide and nitrogen concentrations, and cotyledon area, thickness and specific leaf area. Only phenolic content was significantly correlated (negatively) with field rates of herbivore attack. This finding shows that the phenomenon of selective herbivore attack on seedlings may be influenced by a specific plant life-history trait, (in this case cotyledon phenolic concentration). In addition, we also studied the interaction between fire, serotiny and herbivory in matched burned and unburned plots. Although herbivore activity was greater in unburned plots, weakly serotinous species were as prone to defoliation as congeneric, strongly serotinous species, even though their seedlings recruit successfully in the absence of fire. This result suggests that seedlings of species able to establish between fires are not better defended against the higher levels of herbivory normally associated with unburned vegetation.
我们研究了西澳大利亚12种山龙眼科植物28日龄幼苗所表现出的可接受性特征如何影响田间幼苗被食草动物啃食的可能性。所量化的幼苗属性包括子叶酚类、氰化物和氮浓度，以及子叶面积、厚度和比叶面积。只有酚类含量与食草动物攻击的田间发生率显著（负）相关。这一发现表明，食草动物对幼苗进行选择性攻击的现象可能受特定植物生活史特征（在这种情况下为子叶酚类浓度）的影响。此外，我们还在匹配的火烧地和未火烧地研究了火灾、具球果性和食草作用之间的相互作用。尽管未火烧地的食草动物活动更频繁，但弱具球果性物种与同属的强具球果性物种一样容易落叶，即使它们的幼苗在没有火灾的情况下能成功招募。这一结果表明，能够在火灾间隔期定植的物种的幼苗，对于通常与未火烧植被相关的较高水平的食草作用，并没有更好的防御能力。
