Date of Award
2026
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biological and Environmental Sciences (MSBES)
Department
Biological Sciences
First Advisor
Evan Preisser
Abstract
While plant defense against herbivory is primarily thought to occur following attack, there is also evidence that plants can detect and respond to pre-attack cues. These cues include chemicals released from damaged conspecifics and kairomones, non-attack-related substances emitted by an herbivore that plants can detect and use to their benefit. It is unknown, however, whether or how plants react to the interaction of these pre-attack cues. We measured germination, growth, and herbivore susceptibility of B. nigra seedlings in an experiment that crossed the presence/absence of crushed B. nigra leaves with the presence/absence of mucus of a generalist herbivore, A. subfuscus. Seeds exposed to both crushed leaves and slug mucus germinated 8% more quickly than control seeds; neither risk cue increased germination speed when tested individually. The same pattern was found in herbivore bioassays: Spodoptera exigua ate almost 10x more foliage from control seedlings than from seedlings exposed to both crushed leaves and slug mucus. There was no difference in the final biomass of mature plants, suggesting that plants exposed to herbivore cues early in their development can increase defense without a measurable cost in size at maturity.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Overstrum, Katherine, "HERBIVORE CUES AND PLANT DAMAGE-ASSOCIATED-COMPOUNDS JOINTLY ALTER SEED GERMINATION AND SEEDLING HERBIVORY" (2026). Open Access Master's Theses. Paper 2718.
https://digitalcommons.uri.edu/theses/2718
Supplemental Material