Grazing scar characteristics impact degree of fungal facilitation in spartina alterniflora leaves in a south american salt marsh

Submitted by Lilian M. Silva (lilianmadeirasilva@hotmail.com) on 2015-11-14T23:55:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Grazing Scar Characteristics Impact.pdf: 258534 bytes, checksum: f245ad9af7a8eb6f97a3fa6f3fb9ccdb (MD5)Approved for entry into archive by Eliezer Mendes Lopes (mendesfurg@gmail.com) on 2015-12-24T13:43:09Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Grazing Scar Characteristics Impact.pdf: 258534 bytes, checksum: f245ad9af7a8eb6f97a3fa6f3fb9ccdb (MD5)Made available in DSpace on 2015-12-24T13:43:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Grazing Scar Characteristics Impact.pdf: 258534 bytes, checksum: f245ad9af7a8eb6f97a3fa6f3fb9ccdb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014Grazing scars of burrowing crabs and Hemiptera insects were simulated on leaves of the salt marsh grass Spartina alterniflora. Simulations of crab feeding generated two-fold higher fungal (ergosterol) content in leaves in comparison to that generated by insect scar simulations (1.26 ±0.55 and 0.57 ±0.25 µg per cm², respectively). This study provided evidence that herbivory could facilitate microbial infection by fungi in dominant South American salt marsh plants and indicated that specific feeding mechanisms used by different herbivores might differentially impact the strength of this interaction