Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xfwgj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-20T06:04:44.382Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Interaction between bracken and its insect herbivores

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 December 2011

J. H. Lawton  and
M. MacGarvin
J. H. Lawton
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD, U.K.
M. MacGarvin
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO1 5DD, U.K.
Get access

Synopsis

Bracken in Britain is a host for 27 species of insect herbivores, with a further 11 species that either feed below ground (and are poorly studied), or appear to be only rarely associated with the plant. A typical site in northern England has an average of 15–16 of these species in any one year. Compared with perennial herbaceous angiosperms with similar wide distributions, bracken is not noticeably depauperate in the number of insect species that feed upon it. Bracken in others parts of the world is attacked by a wide variety of insects, with more species present in the geographical areas where bracken is most common.

The ‘feeding niches’ of some of these insects are reviewed. Most are very rare relative to the biomass of their host plants, probably because of the impact of natural enemies; the effect of most of the insects upon their host-plant is consequently negligible.

Reverse effects, of host-plant upon the insects, are subtle but poorly understood. Experiments to elucidate these effects are briefly outlined.

Type
Research Article
Information
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Section B: Biological Sciences , Volume 86: The Biology of Pteridophytes , 1985 , pp. 125 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Caughley, G. and Lawton, J. H., 1981. Plant-herbivore systems. Theoretical Ecology, Principles and Applications, ed. May, R. M., pp. 132–166. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Connor, E. F. and McCoy, E. D., 1979. The statistics and biology of the species–area relationship. Am. Nat. 113, 791–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper-Driver, G. A. and Swain, T., 1976. Cyanogenic polymorphism in bracken in relation to herbivore predation. Nature, Lond. 260, 604.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, C. G., 1983. Phytochemical variation, colonisation, and insect communities: the case of bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum). In Variable Plants and Herbivores in Natural and Managed Systems, ed. Denno, R. F. and McClure, M. S., pp. 513–558. New York: Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H., 1976. The structure of the arthropod community on bracken. Bot. J. Linn. Soc. 73, 187–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H., 1978. Host–plant influences on insect diversity: the effects of space and time. Symp. Roy. Ent. Soc. Lond. 9, 105–125.Google Scholar
Lawton, J. H., 1982. Vacant niches and unsaturated communities: a comparison of bracken herbivores at sites on two continents. J. Anim. Ecol. 51, 573–595.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H., 1983. Plant architecture and the diversity of phytophagous insects. A. Rev. Ent. 28, 23–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H., 1984a. Herbivore community organisation: general models and specific tests with phytophagous insects. In A New Ecology: Novel Approaches to Interactive Systems, ed. Price, P. W., Slobodchikoff, C. N. and Gaud, W. S., pp. 329–352. New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Lawton, J. H., 1984b. Non–competitive populations, non–convergent communities, and vacant niches: the herbivores on bracken. In Ecological Communities: Conceptual Issues and the Evidence, ed. Strong, D. R. Jr, Simberloff, D., Abele, L. G. and Thistle, A. B., pp. 67–101. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawton, J. H. and Schröder, D., 1977. Effects of plant type, size of geographical range and taxonomic isolation on number of insect species associated with British plants. Nature, Lond. 265, 137–140.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McNeill, S. and Southwood, T. R. E., 1978. The role of nitrogen in the development of insect/plant relationships. In Biochemical Aspects of Plant and Animal Coevolution, ed. Harborne, J. B., pp. 77–98. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Ottosson, J. G. and Anderson, J. M., 1983. Number, seasonality and feeding habits of insects attacking ferns in Britain: an ecological consideration. J. Anim. Ecol. 52, 385–406.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schreiner, I., Nafus, D. and Pimentel, D., 1984. Effects of cyanogenesis in bracken fern (Pteridium aquilinum) on associated insects. Ecol. Entomol. 9, 69–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Strong, D. R. Jr, Lawton, J. H. and Southwood, T. R. E., 1984. Insects on Plants. Community Patterns and Mechanism. Oxford: Blackwell Scientific Publications.Google Scholar
Tempel, A. S., 1981. Field studies on the relationship between herbivore damage and tannin concentration in bracken (Pteridium aquilinum Kuhn). Oecologia 51, 97–106.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed