Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-dzt6s Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T11:10:03.363Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The impact of a locust plague on mangroves of the arid Western Australia coast

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2012

Ruth Reef ,
Marilyn C. Ball  and
Catherine E. Lovelock
Ruth Reef*
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072Australia
Marilyn C. Ball
Affiliation:
Research School of Biology, The Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200Australia
Catherine E. Lovelock
Affiliation:
School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia QLD 4072Australia
*
1Corresponding author. Email: r.reef@uq.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

Mangroves generally grow in nutrient-poor environments and maintain high levels of productivity through unique adaptations for nutrient conservation (Reef et al. 2010). One such adaptation in mangroves is highly efficient resorption of limiting nutrients from senescing leaves prior to abscission (Feller et al. 2003). Thus processes that lead to loss of foliage prior to senescence and nutrient resorption (e.g. storms and herbivory) can be detrimental to tree growth and productivity (Bryant et al. 1983, May & Killingbeck 1992). Furthermore, decomposition of fallen leaves by soil microbial communities (Alongi 1994, Holguin et al. 2001) and crabs (Nagelkerken et al. 2008) is another important process contributing to the recycling of nutrients that are in short supply. Therefore, processes that lead to a substantial reduction in litterfall can have a strong negative effect on nutrient cycling and forest productivity. Mangroves have long been recognized as an important source of organic carbon (both particulate and dissolved) for the surrounding tropical coastal ecosystems (Bouillon et al. 2008, Kristensen et al. 2008). Thus, processes affecting litterfall in mangroves can affect the surrounding marine food webs.

Keywords

Austracris guttulosaAvicennia marinaherbivoryinsect–plant relationsnutrientsOrthopterasalinitytropicswetlands
Type
Short Communication
Information
Journal of Tropical Ecology , Volume 28 , Issue 3 , May 2012 , pp. 307 - 311
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

LITERATURE CITED

ALONGI, D. M. 1994. The role of bacteria in nutrient recycling in tropical mangrove and other coastal benthic ecosystems. Hydrobiologia 285:19–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BALL, M. C. 1988. Salinity tolerance in mangroves Aegiceras corniculatum and Avicenia marina. I. Water use in relation to growth, carbon partitioning, and salt balance. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 15:447–464.Google Scholar
BOUILLON, S., BORGES, A. V., CASTAÑEDA-MOYA, E., DIELE, K., DITTMAR, T., DUKE, N. C., KRISTENSEN, E., LEE, S. Y., MARCHAND, C., MIDDLEBURG, J. J., RIVERA-MONROY, V. H., SMITH, T. J. & TWILLEY, R. R. 2008. Mangrove production and carbon sinks: a revision of global budget estimates. Global Biogeochemical Cycles 22:GB2013.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
BRYANT, J. P., CHAPIN, F. S. & KLEIN, D. R. 1983. Carbon/nutrient balance of boreal plants in relation to vertebrate herbivory. Oikos 40:357–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CHEKE, R. A. & TRATALOS, J. A. 2007. Migration, patchiness, and population processes illustrated by two migrant pests. BioScience 57:145–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
COPR (CENTRE FOR OVERSEAS PEST RESEARCH) 1982. The locust and grasshopper agricultural manual. Natural Resources Institute, London. 690 pp.Google Scholar
FARNSWORTH, E. J. & ELLISON, A. M. 1991. Patterns of herbivory in Belizean mangrove swamps. Biotropica 23:555–567.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FELLER, I. C. 1995. Effects of nutrient enrichment on growth and herbivory of dwarf red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle). Ecological Monographs 65:477–505.Google Scholar
FELLER, I. C. & CHAMBERLAIN, A. 2007. Herbivore responses to nutrient enrichment and landscape heterogeneity in a mangrove ecosystem. Oecologia 153:607–616.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
FELLER, I. C., MCKEE, K. L., WHIGHAM, D. F. & O'NEILL, J. P. 2003. Nitrogen vs. phosphorus limitation across an ecotonal gradient in a mangrove forest. Biogeochemistry 62:145–175.Google Scholar
HOLGUIN, G., VAZQUEZ, P. & BASHAN, Y. 2001. The role of sediment microorganisms in the productivity, conservation, and rehabilitation of mangrove ecosystems: an overview. Biology and Fertility of Soils 33:265–278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HUNTER, D. M. & ELDER, R. J. 1999. Rainfall sequences leading to population increases of Austracris guttulosa (Walker) (Orthoptera: Acrididae) in arid north-eastern Australia. Australian Journal of Entomology 38:204–218.Google Scholar
JOHNSTONE, I. M. 1981. Consumption of leaves by herbivores in mixed mangrove stands. Biotropica 13:252–259.Google Scholar
KRISTENSEN, E., BOUILLON, S., DITTMAR, T. & MARCHAND, C. 2008. Organic carbon dynamics in mangrove ecosystems: a review. Aquatic Botany 89:201–219.Google Scholar
LACERDA, L. D. D., JOSE, D. V., REZENDE, C. E. D., FRANCISCO, M. C. F., WASSERMAN, J. C. & MARTINS, J. C. 1986. Leaf chemical characteristics affecting herbivory in a new world mangrove forest. Biotropica 18:350–355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LOVELOCK, C. E., GRINHAM, A., ADAME, M. F. & PENROSE, H. M. 2009. Elemental composition and productivity of cyanobacterial mats in an arid zone estuary in north Western Australia. Wetlands Ecology and Management 18:37–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
LOVELOCK, C. E., FELLER, I. C., ADAME, M. F., REEF, R., PENROSE, H. M., WEI, L. & BALL, M. C. 2011. Intense storms and the delivery of materials that relieve nutrient limitations in mangroves of an arid zone estuary. Functional Plant Biology 38:514–522.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
MAY, J. D. & KILLINGBECK, K. T. 1992. Effects of preventing nutrient resorption on plant fitness and foliar nutrient dynamics. Ecology 73:1868–1878.Google Scholar
MCKEE, K. L. 1993. Soil physicochemical patterns and mangrove species distribution – reciprocal effects? Journal of Ecology 81:477–487.Google Scholar
MURPHY, D. H. 1990. The natural history of insect herbivory on mangrove trees in and near Singapore. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 38:119–203.Google Scholar
NAGELKERKEN, I., BLABER, S. J. M., BOUILLON, S., GREEN, P., HAYWOOD, M., KIRTON, L. G., MEYNECKE, J. O., PAWLIK, J., PENROSE, H. M., SASEKUMAR, A. & SOMERFIELD, P. J. 2008. The habitat function of mangroves for terrestrial and marine fauna: a review. Aquatic Botany 89:155–185.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
PARIDA, A., DAS, A. B. & MITTRA, B. 2004. Effects of salt on growth, ion accumulation, photosynthesis and leaf anatomy of the mangrove, Bruguiera parviflora. Trees – Structure and Function 18:167–174.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
REEF, R., FELLER, I. C. & LOVELOCK, C. E. 2010. Nutrition of mangroves. Tree Physiology 30:1148–1160.Google Scholar
ROBERTSON, A. I. & DUKE, N. C. 1987. Insect herbivory on mangrove leaves in North Queensland. Australian Journal of Ecology 12:1–7.Google Scholar
STIGE, L. C., CHAN, K.-S., ZHANG, Z., FRANK, D. & STENSETH, N. C. 2007. Thousand-year-long Chinese time series reveals climatic forcing of decadal locust dynamics. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 104:16188–16193.Google Scholar
TODD, M. C., WASHINGTON, R., CHEKE, R. A. & KNIVETON, D. 2002. Brown locust outbreaks and climate variability in southern Africa. Journal of Applied Ecology 39:31–42.Google Scholar
TOMLINSON, P. B. 1986. The botany of mangroves. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge. 419 pp.Google Scholar