Bookkeeping of insect herbivory trends in herbarium specimens of purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria).

ABSTRACT: The potential use of herbarium specimens to detect herbivory trends is enormous but largely untapped. The objective of this study was to reconstruct the long-term herbivory pressure on the Eurasian invasive plant, purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria), by evaluating leaf damage over 1323 specimens from southern Québec (Canada). The hypothesis tested is that that the prevalence of herbivory damage on purple loosestrife is low during the invasion phase and increases throughout the saturation phase. Historical trends suggest a gradual increase in hole feeding and margin feeding damage from 1883 to around 1940, followed by a period of relative stability. The percentage of specimens with window feeding damage did not begin to increase until the end of the twentieth century, from 3% (2-6

SUBMITTER: Beaulieu C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6282091 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature