Types of Leaf Herbivority in Communities Cameron, Nate, Crystal, Puja, Rachael, Barney Atlantic Forest, Brazil SEE-U 2000

Introduction l The principle type of herbivores that affect leaves in plant communities are: scrapers-start inside of leaf and work way out miners-eat only the mesophyll of leaf cutters-moves from edges to the inside, leaving plant veins suckers - attach to stem to obtain H 2 0 and nutrients

Introduction(II) l These herbivores are found in different plant communities l Some are more predominant than others l The effect of herbivores may decrease productivity of certain plant species.

Hypotheses l Null Hypothesis- the type of herbivore predation is the same between two sample sites. l Alternative Hypothesis-the type of herbivore predation will vary between the two sample sites.

Methodology l Two groups collected data by identifying plant species affected by herbivores l The predominant type of predation was determined for each plant species l A comparison was made between the two sample sites

Frequency Distribution of the Types of Predation Found Between Sites Chi squared value: 1.59

Number of species vs. types of predation at site 1. (Group A and Group B)

Conclusion l The scrapers and cutters were the predominant types of herbivores l Typically, older leaves were more affected by herbivore predation than younger leaves on the same plant l With a Chi-squared value of 1.59 (with 3 degrees of freedom), we accepted the null-hypothesis