Frugivory by insects on mangrove propagules: effects on the early life history of Avicennia marina

This study investigates how herbivory by larval insects on fruit of the mangrove Avicennia marina affects the subsequent establishment, growth, and survivorship of its seedlings. Research was done in a temperate mangrove forest in Australia where the larvae of two species of insects were the dominant frugivores: the mangrove fruit fly Euphranta marina and the mangrove plume moth Cenoloba obliteralis. Larvae consumed the cotyledons of fruit, but not their embryonic axes. Damage to the cotyledons of fruit while on the tree was obvious in abscised propagules and the cotyledons of seedlings, indicating that larvae within fruit continue to consume the cotyledons and develop while the propagule disperses and the seedling establishes. We found that 53% of fruit, 69% of abscised propagules, and 80% of the cotyledons of seedlings had been attacked by larval insects. The degree of damage to the cotyledons was positively related to the densities of larvae within the fruit and the number of emergence or exit holes in the surface of the cotyledons. Consequently, the number of exit holes could be used as a proxy for the amount of damage to the cotyledons. An experiment in which we placed propagules with different levels of damage (zero, one, two, or three exit holes) on the forest floor revealed that frugivory did not influence the establishment of seedlings. In another experiment, we monitored the performance of newly established seedlings with cotyledons that had zero exit holes, one or more exit holes, or where we had removed their cotyledons. In both experiments, the growth of seedlings as measured by their heights and number of leaves was negatively related to the degree of frugivory. Consumption of the cotyledons by larvae apparently reduces the energy reserves available for the initial growth of seedlings. The early mortality of seedlings in both experiments was minimal and appeared to be independent of differences in size due to frugivory. Experimentally removing the cotyledons of seedlings produced extremely short seedlings with increased mortality, confirming the importance of cotyledonary reserves to the initial growth and survivorship of seedlings of A. marina. This study highlights how the early life history of plants may be impacted by conditions experienced by the propagules before they disperse from the parental plant.