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Full-Text Articles in Weed Science

Theoretical And Observed Relationships Between Defoliation And Partitioning In Grasses, C P.D. Birch, B Thornton Apr 2024

Theoretical And Observed Relationships Between Defoliation And Partitioning In Grasses, C P.D. Birch, B Thornton

IGC Proceedings (1997-2023)

A model is presented that analyses the potential effect of vertebrate grazing on the partitioning of grasses. Its conclusions are: 1) When grazing is sufficiently frequent and severe, grasses can increase their net increase in biomass by partitioning growth to reserves. 2) Partitioning growth to reserves greatly reduces leaf growth between defoliations. After repeated clipping, dryland browntop (Agrostis castellana) and red fescue (Festuca rubra) allocated a smaller proportion of growth between defoliations to leaves than ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or rough meadow-grass (Poa trivialis). Browntop and fescue achieved less leaf growth than ryegrass …


Chemically Mediated Interactions Between Hosts, Parasitic Plants And Insect Herbivores, Muvari C. Tjiurutue Jul 2016

Chemically Mediated Interactions Between Hosts, Parasitic Plants And Insect Herbivores, Muvari C. Tjiurutue

Doctoral Dissertations

Species interactions, by changing phenotypic traits, can alter the outcome of subsequent interactions. Plant-mediated responses to herbivores have been extensively studied, but little is known about plant-mediated responses involving parasitic plants within a broader community context that also includes herbivores. Because parasitic plants are important components of many ecosystems and can shape community structure, it is important to understand how host-mediated interactions influence parasite preference and success. The goal of this thesis is to examine interactions between hosts, parasitic plants and herbivores mediated by chemical traits. We first examined the effects of dodder (Cuscuta sp.) parasitism on induced defenses …


Compensation For Herbivory In Wild Sunflower: Response To Simulated Damage By The Head-Clipping Weevil, Diana Pilson, Karin L. Decker Jan 2002

Compensation For Herbivory In Wild Sunflower: Response To Simulated Damage By The Head-Clipping Weevil, Diana Pilson, Karin L. Decker

Diana Pilson Publications

Herbivore damage is generally detrimental to plant fitness, and the evolutionary response of plant populations to damage can involve either increased resistance or increased tolerance. While characters that contribute to resistance, such as secondary chemicals and trichomes, are relatively well understood, characters that contribute to a plant’s ability to tolerate damage have received much less attention. Using Helianthus annuus (wild sunflower) and simulated damage of Haplorhynchites aeneus (head-clipping weevil) as a model system, we examined morphological characters and developmental processes that contribute to compensatory ability. We performed a factorial experiment that included three levels of damage (none, the first two, …