Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 4.
a) Flower number for Phlox, Rosa and Rhus under three different simulated herbivory treatments
(control, leaf removal only, or meristem removal).
Values are
shown as adjusted means ± 1 SE from Type III GLMs with treatment as the main effect and plant size
and leaf removal as covariates. Overall, the treatment effect was significant for Phlox (F = 14.2, P < 0.001) and
Rosa (F = 6.80, P < 0.001) but not for Rhus (P = 0.8). Flower values are based on the average of multiple counts
on individual plants (Phlox-June 15, 17 and 21; Rosa-June 15 & 21; Rhus-June 1 & July 1). Flower number
was square root transformed for analysis, b) Seed mass for Phlox, Rosa and Rhus under three different simulated
herbivory treatments. Values are shown as adjusted means ± 1 SE from Type III GLMs with treatment as the
main effect and square root flower number and leaf removal as covariates. Treatment had a significant effect for
Rosa (F = 6.80, P < 0.001) but not for Phlox (P = 0.2) or Rhus (P = 0.6). Different letters denote significant
effects at P < 0.05 following Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons.
Discussion
Three of the four species studied were significantly more abundant within the ex-
closures than outside of them. This pattern is consistent with other results found
for herbaceous species at this [6,15] and other sites [8-10] where mammalian
herbivory has been shown to limit overall plant abundance in some species. It is
