9727548 Simms In this collaborative research project the investigators address a central question in ecology, to what extent do consumers control plant population dynamics? Their field study is directed at determining the conditions under which insect and mice consumers alter population dynamics of a shrub. The project will include three separate manipulative field experiments in grasslands and sand dunes. First, the density of insect herbivores and rodent granivores will be manipulated in separate plots planted with the target plant. The second experiment will include plots with different numbers of lupine seeds to determine how seed bank size affects recruitment of the target plant. The third experiment will manipulate plant density and below ground insect herbivory to determine whether competition affects plant tolerance or resistance to herbivory.
