Effects of fire, browsers and gallers on New Jersey tea (Ceanothus herbaceous) growth and reproduction

Woody plant species in grassland ecosystems can be subjected to damage from fire and multiple herbivore species, but interactions between fire and her bivory can modify their separate impacts an woody plant life histories. We studied how galling (by Periploca ceanothiella, Lepidoptera: Cosmopterigida e), deer browsing (Odocoilius virginianus) and fire affected the growth and reproduction of the woody shrub Ceanothus herbaceous (Rhamnaceae) on a bur ned and an unburned site at Konza Prairie Research Natural Area in eastern Kansas. Fire was the major influence on C. herbaceous growth, causing plant s to produce long unbranched vegetative ramets from protected belowground m eristems, while unburned plants were heavily branched and bore shorter shoo ts and numerous inflorescences. Unburned plants experienced higher gall fre quencies, more galls on their longest shoots, but similar deer browsing com pared to burned plants. Ramets with herbivore damage had more branches and inflorescences than undamaged ramets, especially where both herbivores were present. Ceanothus herbaceous' flexible life history responses suggest tol erance of multiple forms of damage.