Resumo

BARRANCOS, María L; MONCAGLIERI, Romina  e  FARJI-BRENER, Alejandro G. Gall infection and inflorescence production in the shrub Schinus patagonicus. Ecol. austral [online]. 2008, vol.18, n.1, pp.133-137. ISSN 1667-782X.

Foliar damage often affects negatively the reproduction of plants. However, little is know about how gall infection influences this process. We analyzed the relationship between the abundance of foliar galls caused by insects and the production of inflorescences in the shrub Schinus patagonicus. In 63 shrubs located in northern Patagonia forests we estimated mean number of foliar galls per leaf and number of inflorescences associated per branch. The mean number of galls per leaf was strongly and negatively associated with the production of inflorescences per branch. Branches with leaves that showed on average, more than four galls did not have inflorescences. The presence of foliar galls seriously affected the reproductive effort of this shrub species, suggesting that this type of infection should be considered as a strong selective pressure.

Palavras-chave : Herbivory; Temperate austral forest; Patagonia.

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