Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Interplant variation in creosotebush foliage characteristics and canopy arthropods

  • Original Papers
  • Published:
Oecologia Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

We conducted a field study to test the hypothesis that creosotebush (Larrea tridentata) shrubs growing in naturally nutrient-rich sites had better quality foliage and supported greater populations of foliage arthropods than shrubs growing in nutrient-poor sites. Nutrient-rich sites had significantly higher concentrations of soil nitrogen than nutrient-poor sites. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed significant differences between high nutrient and low nutrient shrubs based on a number of structural and chemical characteristics measured. High nutrient shrubs were larger, had denser foliage, greater foliage production, higher concentrations of foliar nitrogen and water, and lower concentrations of foliar resin than low nutrient shurbs. Numbers of foliage arthropods, particularly herbivores and predators, were significantly higher on high nutrient shrubs. Shrub characteristics and foliage arthropod abundances varied considerably from shrub to shrub. Shrub characteristics representing shrub size, foliage density, foliage growth, and foliar nitrogen and water concentrations were positively correlated with arthropod abundances. Foliar resin concentrations were negatively correlated with foliage arthropod abundances. The positive relationship between creosotebush productivity and foliage arthropods is contradictory to the tenet that physiologically stressed plants provide better quality foliage to insect herbivores.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Barbour MG, Cunningham GL, Oechel WC, Bamberg SA (1977) Growth and development, form and function. In: Mabry TJ, Hunziker JH, Difeo DR Jr (eds) Creosote Bush: Biology and Chemistry of Larrea in New World Deserts. US/IBP Synthesis Series 6. Dowden, Hutchinson and Ross, Inc., Strudsburg PA, pp 48–91

    Google Scholar 

  • Belsky AJ (1986) Does herbivory benefit plants? A review of the evidence. Am Nat 127:870–892

    Google Scholar 

  • Brower JE, Zar JH (1984) Field and Laboratory Methods for General Ecology. Wnt. C. Brown Publishers, Dubuque, IA

    Google Scholar 

  • Chew RM (1961) Ecology of the spiders of a desert community. J New York Entomol Soc 69:5–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Cox CS, McEvoy PB (1983) Effect of summer moisture stress on the capacity of transy ragwort (Senecio jacobaea) to compensate for defoliation by cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae). J Appl Ecol 20:225–234

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford CS, Gosz JR (1982) Desert ecosystems: their resources in space and time. Envir Conserv 9:181–195

    Google Scholar 

  • Cunningham GL, Syvertsen JP, Reynolds JF, Willson JM (1979) Some effects of soil-moisture availability on above-ground production and reproductive allocation in Larrea tridentata (DC) Cov. Oecologia 40:113–123

    Google Scholar 

  • Denno RF, McClure MS (1983) Variable Plants and Herbivores in Natural and Managed Systems. Academic Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Dina SJ, Kilkoff LG (1973) Effect of plant moisture stress on carbohydrate and nitrogen content of bit sagebrush. J Range Manag 26:207–209

    Google Scholar 

  • Duisberg PC (1952) Some relationships between xerophytism and the content of resin, nordihydroguaiaretic acid, and protein of Larrea divaricata Cov. Plant Physiol 27:769–777

    Google Scholar 

  • Elkins NZ, Sabol GV, Ward TJ, Whitford WG (1986) The influence of subterranean termites on the hydrological characteristics of a Chihuahuan Desert ecosystem. Oecologia 68:521–528

    Google Scholar 

  • Fennah RG (1965) The influence of environmental stress on the Cacao tree in determining feeding sites of Caco thrips Selenothrips rubricinetus (Giard), on leaves and pods. Bull Entomol Res 56:333–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenfield MD, Shelly TE, Downum KR (1987) Variation in host-plant quality: implications for territoriality in a desert grasshopper. Ecology 68:828–838

    Google Scholar 

  • Haglund BM (1980) Proline and valine: cues which stimulate grasshopper herbivory during drought stress. Nature 288:697–698

    Google Scholar 

  • Hocking RR, Pendleton OJ (1983) The regression dilemma. Communications in statistics. Theory Meth 12:497–527

    Google Scholar 

  • Hsiao TS, Kirkland RL (1973) Demographic studies of sagebrush insects as functions of various environmental factors. US/IBP Desert Biome Res Memo 73:28

    Google Scholar 

  • Huitema BE (1980) The analysis of covariance and alternatives. John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Hurd PD, Linsley EG (1975) Some insects sother than bees associated with Larrea tridentata in the southwestern United States. Proc Entomol Soc Wash 77:100–121

    Google Scholar 

  • Jefferies MJ, Lawton JH (1984) Enemy free space and the structure of ecological communities. Biol J Linnean Soc 23:269–286

    Google Scholar 

  • Lawton JH (1983) Plant architecture and the diversity of phytophagous insects. Ann Rev Entomol 28:23–29

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis AC (1984) Plant quality and feeding: effects of sunflower condition on preference and performance of Melanoplus differentialis. Ecology 65:836–843

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis T (1973) Thrips, their biology, ecology, and economic importance. Academic Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Lightfoot DC, Whitford WG (1987) Variation in insect densities on desert cresotebush: is nitrogen a factor? Ecology 68:547–557

    Google Scholar 

  • Louda SM (1982) Distribution ecology: variation in plant recruitment over a gradient in relation to insect seed predation. Ecol Monog 52:25–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Louda SM (1986) Insect herbivory in respect to root-cutting and flooding stress on a native crucifer under field conditions. Acta Ecol 7:37–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Ludwig JA, Reynolds JF, Whitson PD (1975) Size-biomass relationships of several Chihuahuan Desert shrubs. Am Midl Nat 94:451–461

    Google Scholar 

  • McNaughton SJ (1979) Grazing as an optimization process: grass ungulate relationships in the Serengeti. Am Nat 113:691–703

    Google Scholar 

  • Miles PW, Aspinall D, Correll AT (1982) The performance of two chewing insects on water-stressed food plants in relation to changes in their chemical composition. Aust J Zool 30:347–355

    Google Scholar 

  • Mispagel ME (1974) An ecological analysis of insect populations on Larrea tridentata in the Mojave Desert. Thesis. Calif State Univ, Long Beach, CA

    Google Scholar 

  • Mispagel ME (1978) The ecology and bioenergetics of the acridid grasshopper Bootettix punctatus on creosote bush, Larrea tridentata in the northern Mojave Desert. Ecology 59:779–788

    Google Scholar 

  • Moran VC (1980) Interactions between phytophagous insects and their Opuntia hosts. Ecol Entomol 5:153–164

    Google Scholar 

  • Neufeld HS, Meinzer FC, Wisdom CS, Sharifi MR, Rundel PW, Neufeld M, Goldring Y, Cunningham GL (1988) Canopy architecture of Larrea tridentata (DC) Cov., a desert shrub: foliage orientation and direct beam interception. Oecologia 75:54–60

    Google Scholar 

  • Orians GH, Cates RG, Mares MA, Neff J, Rhoades DF, Rosenzweig ML, Simpson BB, Tomoff CS (1977) Resource utilization systems. In: Orians GH, Solbrig OT (eds) Convergent Evolution in Warm Deserts. US/IBP Synthesis Series. 3. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross Inc. Stroudsburg, PA pp 164–244

    Google Scholar 

  • Price PW, Bouton EE, Gross P, McPheron BA, Thompson JN, Weis AE (1980) Interactions among three trophic levels: Influence of plants on interactions between insect herbivores and natural enemies. Ann Rev Ecol Syst 11:41–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades DF (1977) The antiherbivore chemistry of Larrea. In: Mabry TJ, Hunziker JH, Difeo DR Jr (eds) Creosote Bush: Biology and Chemistry of Larrea in New World Deserts. US/ IBP Synthesis Series 6. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross. Stroudsburg, PA. pp 135–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades DF (1979) Evolution of plant chemical defense against herbivores. In: Rosenthal GA, Janzen DH (eds) Herbivores: Their interaction with secondary plant metabolites. Academic Press, New York, NY pp 3–45

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades DF (1983) Herbivore population dynamics and plant chemistry. In: Denno RF, McClure MS (eds) Variable Plants and Herbivores in Natural and Managed Systems. Academic Press, New York, NY pp 155–220

    Google Scholar 

  • Rhoades DF, Cates RG (1976) Toward a general theory of plant anti-herbivore chemistry. Rec Advan Phytochem 10:168–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Root RB (1967) The niche exploitation pattern of the blue-gray gnatcatcher. Ecol Monogr 37:317–350

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenthal GA, Janzen DH (eds) (1979) Herbivores: Their Interactions With Secondary Plant Metabolites. Academic Press, New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • SAS Institute Inc (1985) SAS user's guide: Statistics, version 5 edition. SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz JC (1978) Competition, predation, and the structure of phytophilous insect communities: A study of convergent evolution. Dissertation, Univ of Washington, Seattle, WA

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz JC (1981) Adaptive changes in antipredator behavior of a grasshopper during development. Evolution 35:175–179

    Google Scholar 

  • Schultz JC, Otte D, Enders F (1977) Larrea as a habitat component for desert arthropods. In: Mabry TJ, Hunziker JH, Defeo DR Jr (eds) Creosote Bush: Biology and Chemistry of Larrea in New World Deserts. US/IBP Synthesis Series 6. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., Stroudsburg, PA

    Google Scholar 

  • Skujins J (1981) Nitrogen cycling in arid ecosystems. In: Clark FE, Roswell T (eds) Terrestrial Nitrogen Cycles. Ecol Bull 33:477–491

  • Stave ME, Shiff CJ (1981) Temporal segregation in North American desert Membracidae. Oecologia 51:408–411

    Google Scholar 

  • Steel RGD, Torrie JH (1980) Principles and Procedures of Statistics: A Biometrical Approach. Second edition. McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY

    Google Scholar 

  • Terborgh J, Robinson S (1986) Guilds and their utility in ecology. In: Kikkawa J, Anderson DJ (eds) Community Ecology: Pattern and Process. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Victoria, Australia, pp 65–90

    Google Scholar 

  • Trichilo PJ, Leigh TF (1987) Influence of resource quality on the reproductive fitness of flower thrips (Thysanoptera: Thripidae). Ann Entomol Soc Am 81:64–70

    Google Scholar 

  • Waloff N, Richards OW (1977) The effect of insect fauna on growth, mortality, and natality of broom, Sarothamnus scoparius. J Appl Ecol 14:787–798

    Google Scholar 

  • West NE, Klemmedson JO (1978) Structural distribution of nitrogen in desert ecosystems. In: West NE, Skujins JJ (eds) Nitrogen in Desert Ecosystems US/IBP Synthesis Series 9. Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., Stroudsburg, PA, pp 1–16

    Google Scholar 

  • White TCR (1969) An index to measure weather-induced stress of trees associated with outbreaks of psyllids in Australia. Ecology 50:905–909

    Google Scholar 

  • White TCR (1974) A hypothesis to explain outbreaks of looper caterpillars with special reference to populations of Selidosema suavis in a plantation of Pinus radiata in New Zealand. Oecologia 16:279–301

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford WG (1986) Decomposition and nutrient cycling in desters. In: Whitford WG (ed) Pattern and Process in Desert Ecosystems. Univ of New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, NM pp 93–117

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford WG, Creusere FM (1977) Seasonal and yearly fluctuations in Chihuahuan Desert lizard communities. Herpetologica 33:54–65

    Google Scholar 

  • Whitford WG, Reynolds JF, Cunningham GL (1987) How desertification affects nitrogen limtation of primary production on Chiahuahuan Desert watersheds. US Dept of Agric, Forest Serv Gen Tech Rept RM 150:143–153

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, New Mexico State University, 88003, Las Cruces, NM, USA

    David C. Lightfoot & Walter G. Whitford

Authors
  1. David C. Lightfoot
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Walter G. Whitford
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Lightfoot, D.C., Whitford, W.G. Interplant variation in creosotebush foliage characteristics and canopy arthropods. Oecologia 81, 166–175 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379801

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00379801

Key words

Search

Navigation