Mentor/s
LaTina Steele, Sacred Heart University
Participation Type
Poster
Abstract
Invasive species can negatively affect biodiversity and may be connected to plant chemical defenses. However, the extent to which small grazers affect growth and chemical defenses in native and invasive aquatic plants is not well understood. The effect of amphipod (mostly Hyalella azteca) and snail (Physella sp.) grazing on growth and phenolic content was compared in a native aquatic plant (coontail, Ceratophyllum demersum) and an invasive aquatic plant (Eurasian watermilfoil, Myriophyllum spicatum) in two laboratory experiments. In each experiment, growth of each plant was measured as changed in wet mass, and at the end of the experiments each plant was freeze-dried and ground in liquid nitrogen before running Folin-Denis assay for total phenolics. Neither amphipods nor snails had a significant effect on either coontail or milfoil growth. In both experiments (amphipods and snails) milfoil consistently grew more than coontail, and milfoil contained higher levels of phenolics than coontail in the amphipod experiment. However, phenolics were not affected by amphipod grazing itself. Phenolic results are still underway for the snail experiment. The data suggest that although invasive milfoil is more chemically defended than native coontail, grazing by small herbivores did not affect plant growth or induce phenolic production.
College and Major available
Biology
Location
Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons
Start Day/Time
4-28-2023 12:00 PM
End Day/Time
4-28-2023 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Prize Categories
Most Scholarly Impact or Potential, Best Visuals, Best Writing
Native and Invasive Aquatic Plant Responses to Amphipod and Snail Grazing
Digital Commons & West Campus 2nd Floor University Commons
Invasive species can negatively affect biodiversity and may be connected to plant chemical defenses. However, the extent to which small grazers affect growth and chemical defenses in native and invasive aquatic plants is not well understood. The effect of amphipod (mostly Hyalella azteca) and snail (Physella sp.) grazing on growth and phenolic content was compared in a native aquatic plant (coontail, Ceratophyllum demersum) and an invasive aquatic plant (Eurasian watermilfoil, Myriophyllum spicatum) in two laboratory experiments. In each experiment, growth of each plant was measured as changed in wet mass, and at the end of the experiments each plant was freeze-dried and ground in liquid nitrogen before running Folin-Denis assay for total phenolics. Neither amphipods nor snails had a significant effect on either coontail or milfoil growth. In both experiments (amphipods and snails) milfoil consistently grew more than coontail, and milfoil contained higher levels of phenolics than coontail in the amphipod experiment. However, phenolics were not affected by amphipod grazing itself. Phenolic results are still underway for the snail experiment. The data suggest that although invasive milfoil is more chemically defended than native coontail, grazing by small herbivores did not affect plant growth or induce phenolic production.
Students' Information
Xanthe Robinson, Chemistry and Biology double major, Honors student, graduating year 2025