Landscape context outweighs local habitat quality in its effects on herbivore dispersal and distribution |
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Authors: | Kyle J Haynes Forrest P Dillemuth Bryan J Anderson Alyssa S Hakes Heather B Jackson S Elizabeth Jackson James T Cronin |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Zoology, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, USA;(2) Department of Biological Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA |
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Abstract: | Past studies with spatially structured herbivore populations have emphasized the primacy of intrinsic factors (e.g., patch
quality), patch geometry (e.g., patch size and isolation), and more recently landscape context (e.g., matrix composition)
in affecting local population abundance and dispersal rate. However, few studies have examined the relative importance of
each factor, or how they might interact to affect herbivore abundance or dispersal. Here, we performed a factorial field experiment
to examine the independent and interactive effects of patch quality (plant biomass, leaf protein, leaf phenolics) and matrix
composition mudflat or non-host grass (Bromus inermis)] on planthopper (Prokelisia crocea) emigration from host-plant patches (prairie cordgrass, Spartina pectinata). In addition, a field survey was conducted to examine the relative importance of patch quality, geography, and matrix composition
on planthopper occupancy and density. In the experiment, we found that rates of emigration from low and intermediate quality
patches were, on average, 21% percent higher for patches embedded in brome than mudflat. In contrast, the emigration rate
was unaffected by matrix composition in nutrient-rich patches. Within matrix types, plant quality had little effect on emigration.
In the survey, planthopper density and the patch occupancy rate of planthoppers increased nonadditively with increasing patch
size and the percentage of the surrounding matrix composed of mudflat. This study suggests that landscape-level factors, such
as the matrix, may be more important than factors intrinsic to the patches. |
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Keywords: | Prokelisia crocea Spartina pectinata Metapopulation Source– sink Edge permeability |
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