herbivory Flashcards
- Polyphagous
Feeding on many different types of food or plant species
- Oligophagous
Feeding on a limited number of species, typically within one family.
- Monophagous
Feeding on a single species of food or host plant
- Niche Conservatism
The tendency of species to retain their ancestral ecological traits.
- Leaf Mining
Feeding behavior where larvae live and eat inside the leaf tissue
- Boring
Feeding activity where larvae or insects create holes in plants, often in stems or trunks.
- Plant Apparency
The visibility of a plant to herbivores, influencing its defenses
- Trichomes
Hair-like structures on plants that can deter herbivores or reduce water loss.
- Plant Secondary Metabolites (PSMs):
): Chemical compounds produced by plants that are not necessary for growth but provide defense
- Induced Defence
Defenses that are activated in response to herbivory or stress.
- Constitutive Defence
Defenses that are always present, regardless of herbivory.
- Leaf Toughness
A structural defense that makes leaves harder to eat
- Plant Defence Syndromes:
Suites of defensive traits that evolve together to protect plants.
- Skeletonise
When herbivores eat leaf tissue between the veins, leaving a “skeleton” of veins.
- Vein Cutting
Herbivores cut veins of leaves to prevent toxic compounds from reaching feeding sites.
- Trenching
Herbivores make cuts to drain or prevent flow of defensive compounds in leaves.
- Sequestration
Storage of toxic substances by herbivores from their food plants to deter predators.
- Parasitoid
An organism that lives on or in a host, eventually killing it
- Domatium/Domatia:
Small plant structures that provide shelter for beneficial organisms.
- Extra-floral Nectary
Nectar-producing structures located outside flowers that attract beneficial insects.
- Co-evolution:
Mutual evolutionary influence between two interacting species
- Diffuse Co-evolution
Co-evolution involving multiple species rather than a strict one-to-one relationship.
- Rumen
A stomach chamber in certain herbivores that aids in fermentation
- Foregut Fermentation
Microbial fermentation occurring in the foregut of certain animals.
- Keystone Species
A species that has a disproportionately large impact on its ecosystem.
- Trophic Cascade
A series of changes in the ecosystem resulting from changes at one trophic level.
- Habitat Fragmentation
The process of breaking large habitats into smaller, isolated patches.
- Landscape Matrix
The surrounding landscape around habitat patches that influences connectivity.
- Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis
Suggests that moderate levels of disturbance can maximize species diversity.
- Succession
The process of change in the species structure of an ecosystem over time.
- Urchin Barren
Marine areas dominated by sea urchins, often due to loss of predators, leading to depleted kelp or other algae.
