This study investigated effects of plant quality and natural enemies on the abundance and survivorship of several leaf miner species on Florida scrub oaks over several ecological scales. Three oak species (Quercus laevis, Q. geminata, and Q. myrtifolia) and four leafminer species (Acrocercops albinatella, Brachys tesselatus, Stilbosis quadripustulatus, and Cameraria sp. nova) were the main focus of five separate studies, addressing effects of bottom-up and top-down factors at regional, local, and individual scales. At the regional scale, it was observed that Cameraria sp. nova was aggregated into sites, and sites closer to each other exhibited similar densities of mines than sites farther apart. None of the bottom-up and top-down factors studied were spatially structured, but did influence the variation in Cameraria abundance over the range of the host plant Q. myrtifolia. At the local scale, all leaf miners studied were aggregated between and within plants, and variation
in bottom-up factors among individual plants explained variation in abundance for some of the leaf miners studied. Intra-specific competition was identified as an important factor influencing mine survivorship, but inter-specific competition among leaf miners and gall-formers did not shape the community structure of oak herbivores. Experimental manipulation of bottom-up and top-down factors via fertilization and natural enemy removal showed that bottom-up effects were important determinants of leaf miner abundance, as fertilized plants supported 2 to 5-fold more herbivores than control plants. The removal of natural enemies, on the other hand, did not significantly impact the abundance and/or the survivorship of leaf miners and other guilds studied. At individual scales, it was demonstrated that two leaf miner species responded to random variations in leaf morphology, by increasing in abundance in individual host plants with more asymmetric leaves and/or higher levels of fluctuating as
ymmetry. These results offered support for the plant stress hypothesis and differences in host plant quality were again partially responsible for the results found.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:USF/oai:scholarcommons.usf.edu:etd-3490 |
| Date | 01 June 2006 |
| Creators | Cornelissen, Tatiana |
| Publisher | Scholar Commons |
| Source Sets | University of South Flordia |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Graduate Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | default |
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