Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023 Herbivores can affect the quality and quantity of their food plants in ways that indirectly influence the food resources and habitat available to other herbivores present. This study examined indirect interactions between a mammalian browser and an...
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ftunivalaska:oai:scholarworks.alaska.edu:11122/14951 2024-04-28T07:53:53+00:00 Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival Cummings, Martha M. T. Wagner, Diane Kielland, Knut Mulder, Christa 2023-12 http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14951 en_US eng http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14951 Department of Biology and Wildlife Gracillariidae Host plants Willows Browsing Interior Alaska Host-parasite relationships Insects Insect-plant relationships Coexistence of species Moose Diet Leafminers Master of Science in Biological Sciences Thesis ms 2023 ftunivalaska 2024-04-10T14:05:37Z Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023 Herbivores can affect the quality and quantity of their food plants in ways that indirectly influence the food resources and habitat available to other herbivores present. This study examined indirect interactions between a mammalian browser and an insect folivore that feed on shared plant species during different seasons. On a boreal floodplain in interior Alaska, we investigated how a history of winter browsing by moose (Alces alces) affected the behavior and performance of the willow leafblotch miner moth, Micrurapteryx salicifoliella in summer. Excluding moose browsing for 8 years did not change plant density, but strongly increased canopy height, vegetative cover and overstory density. These vegetation changes led to slightly higher relative humidity and lower air and soil temperatures on moose exclosure relative to control plots. Excluding browsers did not alter the foliar quality (leaf area, water content, leaf mass per unit area, nitrogen concentration) of the three focal willow host species examined. Browsing-related effects on willow morphology and canopy structure did not influence patterns of oviposition by M. salicifoliella on host plants. However, larvae feeding within control plots exposed to vertebrate browsing were less likely to survive to pupation than those excluded from browsing, perhaps because larval predation was more frequent on the warmer and more open browsed plots. Both oviposition and subsequent larval survival were strongly affected by host species. Interestingly, the willow host species on which leaf miner larvae survived best did not correspond to that which received the highest egg abundance during oviposition. We conclude that a history of browsing reduced canopy height, cover and overstory density, which in turn affected the performance of the outbreak insect M. salicifoliella by reducing the proportion of larvae to survive to pupation. Ted McHenry Biology Field Research Scholarship, Murie Memorial Student Award, IAB Summer ... Thesis Alces alces Alaska University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Alaska: ScholarWorks@UA |
op_collection_id |
ftunivalaska |
language |
English |
topic |
Gracillariidae Host plants Willows Browsing Interior Alaska Host-parasite relationships Insects Insect-plant relationships Coexistence of species Moose Diet Leafminers Master of Science in Biological Sciences |
spellingShingle |
Gracillariidae Host plants Willows Browsing Interior Alaska Host-parasite relationships Insects Insect-plant relationships Coexistence of species Moose Diet Leafminers Master of Science in Biological Sciences Cummings, Martha M. T. Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
topic_facet |
Gracillariidae Host plants Willows Browsing Interior Alaska Host-parasite relationships Insects Insect-plant relationships Coexistence of species Moose Diet Leafminers Master of Science in Biological Sciences |
description |
Thesis (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023 Herbivores can affect the quality and quantity of their food plants in ways that indirectly influence the food resources and habitat available to other herbivores present. This study examined indirect interactions between a mammalian browser and an insect folivore that feed on shared plant species during different seasons. On a boreal floodplain in interior Alaska, we investigated how a history of winter browsing by moose (Alces alces) affected the behavior and performance of the willow leafblotch miner moth, Micrurapteryx salicifoliella in summer. Excluding moose browsing for 8 years did not change plant density, but strongly increased canopy height, vegetative cover and overstory density. These vegetation changes led to slightly higher relative humidity and lower air and soil temperatures on moose exclosure relative to control plots. Excluding browsers did not alter the foliar quality (leaf area, water content, leaf mass per unit area, nitrogen concentration) of the three focal willow host species examined. Browsing-related effects on willow morphology and canopy structure did not influence patterns of oviposition by M. salicifoliella on host plants. However, larvae feeding within control plots exposed to vertebrate browsing were less likely to survive to pupation than those excluded from browsing, perhaps because larval predation was more frequent on the warmer and more open browsed plots. Both oviposition and subsequent larval survival were strongly affected by host species. Interestingly, the willow host species on which leaf miner larvae survived best did not correspond to that which received the highest egg abundance during oviposition. We conclude that a history of browsing reduced canopy height, cover and overstory density, which in turn affected the performance of the outbreak insect M. salicifoliella by reducing the proportion of larvae to survive to pupation. Ted McHenry Biology Field Research Scholarship, Murie Memorial Student Award, IAB Summer ... |
author2 |
Wagner, Diane Kielland, Knut Mulder, Christa |
format |
Thesis |
author |
Cummings, Martha M. T. |
author_facet |
Cummings, Martha M. T. |
author_sort |
Cummings, Martha M. T. |
title |
Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
title_short |
Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
title_full |
Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
title_fullStr |
Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (Micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
title_sort |
effects of browser exclusion on the willow leafblotch miner (micrurapteryx salicifoliella): host plant availability, oviposition, and survival |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14951 |
genre |
Alces alces Alaska |
genre_facet |
Alces alces Alaska |
op_relation |
http://hdl.handle.net/11122/14951 Department of Biology and Wildlife |
_version_ |
1797573902433517568 |