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Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe

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Ecological Research

Abstract

Studies of herbivory and its consequences on the growth of native and exotic plants could help elucidate some processes involved in plant invasions. Introduced species are likely to experience reduced herbivory in their new range due to the absence of specialist enemies and, thus, may have higher benefits if they reduce the investment in resistance and increase their compensatory capacity. In order to evaluate the role of herbivory in disturbed areas within the Patagonian steppe, we quantified and compared the leaf levels of herbivory of four native and five exotic species and recorded the associated insect fauna. We also performed greenhouse experiments in which we simulated herbivory in order to evaluate the compensatory capacity of native and exotic species under different herbivory levels that resembled naturally occurring damage. Natural herbivory levels in the field were similar between the studied exotic and native plants. Field observations confirmed that they both shared some herbivore insects, most of which are generalists. In the greenhouse experiments, both exotic and native plants fully compensated for herbivory. Our results suggest that the studied exotic plants are not released from herbivory in the Patagonian steppe but are able to fully compensate for it. The capacity to recover from herbivory coupled with other potential adaptations, such as a better performance under disturbance and greater competitive ability than that of the native species, may represent some of the mechanisms responsible for the success of plant invasion in the Patagonian steppe.

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Acknowledgments

We thank M. Nuñez and two anonymous reviewers for their useful suggestions that helped to improve this paper. We acknowledge N. Lescano, S. González, J. Franzese, C. Ezcurra, L. Ghermandi, Y. Sasal, L. Elizalde and C. Ziperovich for their assistance at several stages of this study. We also acknowledge Kristi and Kadri Laar for reading and improving the manuscript. G.P. was supported by a Postdoctoral fellowship from CONICET (Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas) and financial support was partially supplied by ANPCyT of Argentina (recently through PICT 2008-0352).

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  1. Laboratorio Ecotono, INIBIOMA, CONICET-Universidad Nacional del Comahue, Pasaje Gutiérrez 1125, 8400, Bariloche, Argentina

    Gabriela Inés Pirk & Alejandro G. Farji-Brener

  2. Grupo de Investigación en Ecología de Comunidades de Desierto, Departamento de Ecología, Genética y Evolución, FCEyN, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Gabriela Inés Pirk

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  1. Gabriela Inés Pirk
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Correspondence to Gabriela Inés Pirk.

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Pirk, G.I., Farji-Brener, A.G. Foliar herbivory and its effects on plant growth in native and exotic species in the Patagonian steppe. Ecol Res 27, 903–912 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11284-012-0968-y

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