Abstract

LOMASCOLO, Silvia B et al. Effect of water increment on phenology, productivity, and herbivory of Fuchsia boliviana C. (Onagraceae) in Northwestern Argentina. Ecol. austral [online]. 2019, vol.29, n.2, pp.185-193. ISSN 1667-782X.

Water availability may affect plant productivity because it limits a plant's ability to reproduce and defend itself. In this field study, we studied the effect of water increment in relation to: a) flower production, b) fruit production and c) herbivory, focusing on Fuchsia boliviana (Onagraceae) in the Yungas forest of Northwestern Argentina. We selected 10 pairs of plants of similar size separated at least 5 m from each other. We watered one plant of the pair with 20 L twice a week between September and December, 2016. The number of flowers and fruits of all plants were counted twice a week. Herbivory was quantified once from photographs of five leaves per plant using ImageJ version 1.5i. Based on Wilcoxon tests, we found no difference in the number of flowers, or fruits, nor in herbivory in plants of both treatments. We observed a trend for watered plants starting to flower later and with more intensity than unwatered plants. We discuss different options that may explain why water increase did not affect reproduction nor the level of herbivore damage in Fuchsia boliviana.

Keywords : Fruit production; Flower production; Herbivory; Water regime; Climate change; Yungas; Argentina.

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