Sagehen Creek Field Station

01 Jun, 05 AM - 30 Jun, 05 AM

I am examining several ecological mechanisms and possible selective advantages of communication between sagebrush individuals following damage by herbivores. Our impression has been that young plants are more inducible than older ones and this hypothesis will be tested explicitly in the field by experimentally clipping (or not) plants that are younger or older. We also hypothesize that younger plants are more responsive to cues and we will test this hypothesis as well by monitoring levels of damage on induced and uninduced controls that are young or old. One possible advantage of releasing volatiles cues is that they may act as germination inhibitors. Seeds (of sagebrush, a local grass, and a local forb) will be collected to evaluate in germination tests near experimentally clipped and unclipped sagebrush individuals. Another possible advantage of releasing volatile cues is that they are attractive to predators and parasites of herbivores. These organisms have been hypothesized to act as "bodyguards" for the sagebrush. Numbers of predators and parasites of herbivores will be monitored throughout the season for plants that have been clipped or not. In addition, populations of aphids will be monitored on clipped or unclipped shoots to determine how well they persist and increase on these two types of plants. Cues released by sagebrush have been found to make some neighboring species more resistant. Last season, I found that individuals of Mule's ears near to sagebrush recieved less damage than individuals farther from sagebrush. I will repeat these measurements this season. In addition, I will conduct an experiment examining levels of herbivore damage for plants near clipped or unclipped sagebrush.

Visit #7851 @Sagehen Creek Field Station

Approved

Under Project # 4312 | Research

Communication between plants

faculty - University of California, Davis

Reservation Members(s)

Rick Karban Jun 1 - 30, 2005 (30 days)
Rick Karban Jun 1 - 30, 2005 (30 days)
Rick Karban Jun 1 - 30, 2005 (30 days)
Rick Karban Jun 1 - 30, 2005 (30 days)

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Day Use 4 Jun 1 - 30, 2005