Abstract
The negative impacts of herbivores on plant fitness may include both direct and indirect effects. Direct effects on female plant fitness occur when decreased seed production is due to decreased resource availability from loss of leaf area and its attendant photosynthesis or through consumption of reproductive structures. Indirect effects occur when folivore- and florivore-mediated changes in floral traits influence pollinator preference and/or pollinator efficiency, thus reducing pollen receipt. We examined the effects of both leaf and floral herbivory (bud damage) and determined the relative contribution of direct and indirect effects of damage on female fitness through changes in floral traits for Oenothera macrocarpa (Onagraceae). The experiment was a two-factorial design that manipulated both leaf damage (∼25% leaf area removed by hand) and pollen receipt (supplemental hand pollination). We then measured effects of leaf damage on floral traits (corolla diameter, floral tube length, and flower number) ...
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