Herbivory in the Amazon Lowland Tropical Rainforest, With a Special Focus on Myrmecophytes (Genus TOCOCA)

Meghan McAvoy

Date of Award

2009

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Natural Sciences

First Advisor

Lowman, Margaret

Keywords

Ant-plants, Myrmecophytes, Herbivory, Amazon

Area of Concentration

Environmental Studies

Abstract

This thesis examines several aspects of herbivory with a specific focus on myrmecophytes from the genus Tococa in the Amazon lowland tropical rainforest. Field work was conducted at several different sites in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest, selected for their proximity to the Amazon Conservatory of Tropical Studies (ACTS) canopy walkway. This enabled research at different rainforest canopy levels. I analyzed the percentage of leaves with signs of herbivory versus those with none. Of 2,000 leaves surveyed, 92.5% show signs of herbivory while only 7.5% had not been fed upon. I compared herbivory between two species of plants from the Tococa genus: one that houses ants and one that does not. My hypothesis was that myrmecophytes (i.e. ant-plants or plants with beneficial relationships with ants) will show fewer signs of herbivory and may have a greater array of foliage because the ants defend the leaf tissue. Myrmecophytes showed statistically significant lower levels of herbivory than non-myrmecophytes and had a larger proportion of tougher, older, and larger leaves.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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