Indirect effects of introduced ungulates on native foliar arthropod herbivory

TAPELLA, MARÍA PAZ; BARRIOS-GARCÍA, MARÍA NOELIA; RODRIGUEZ-CABAL, MARIANO ALBERTO; SASAL, YAMILA; QUINTERO, CAROLINA

Montreal

Congreso; ESA and CSEE Joint Meeting; 2022

ESA and CSEE

Ungulates are important agents of natural selection in different ecosystems. Although thenegative effects of introduced ungulates on plant communities have been welldocumented, few studies have assessed their indirect effects on successive trophic levels.As herbivory by ungulates can alter the nutritional, chemical and structural characteristicsof the remaining plant tissues, modifying them as food and refuge for other organisms,indirect effects on arthropod herbivory are expected. The aim of this study was to assessthe indirect effect of browsing by introduced ungulates on herbivory by native foliararthropods, using a very palatable and common pioneer native plant species fromnorthern Patagonian temperate forests, Aristotelia chilensis (Elaeocarpaceae). We growfrom seed plants from 7 populations (4 without and 3 with historic presence of introducedungulates, intact and invaded sites respectively), in a common garden experiment. At theyoung sapling stage, 126 plants were subjected to herbivory simulation treatments: (i)control - no damage, (ii) mechanical damage (50% of the aerial biomass removed) +addition of ungulates saliva ungulates and (iii) mechanical damage + addition of planthormone (MeJA: jasmonic acid). After the treatments, all plants were taken to the field,where they were exposed to native arthropod herbivory.