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Science 18 August 1978:
Vol. 201. no. 4356, pp. 630 - 632
DOI: 10.1126/science.201.4356.630
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Articles

Isopod and Insect Root Borers May Benefit Florida Mangroves

DANIEL SIMBERLOFF 1, BECKY JEAN BROWN 2, and STUART LOWRIE 3

1 Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, Tallahassee 32306
2 Department of Botany, University of Florida, Gainesville 32611
3 Department of Botany, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109

Far from threatening the persistence and geographic extent of red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) in Florida, wood-boring marine isopods may aid the plant to survive wave action by initiating branching of aerial prop roots. Evidence for a recent, sudden increase in density or range of one such isopod, Sphaeroma terebrans, is anecdotal and weak. Insect damage to mangrove aerial roots even before they descend to the water is at least as great as that wrought by isopods and also causes root branching. Aerial and submarine damage combine to stimulate root initiation so that, for every root produced aerially by the tree, at least 1.4 roots reach the substrate. Similar responses to herbivory, which have been reported for other plants, suggest that herbivores may both benefit and harm plants, and that their impact may be more difficult to assess in specific instances than has been realized.

Submitted on February 21, 1978
Revised on May 24, 1978


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