TESTING THE CONCEPTUAL AND OPERATIONAL UNDERPINNINGS OF HERBIVORY ASSAYS: DOES VARIATION IN PREDICTABILITY OF RESOURCES, ASSAY DESIGN, AND DEPLOYMENT METHOD AFFECT OUTCOMES?

Herbivory assays are a valuable tool used by ecologists to understand many of the patterns and processes affecting herbivory, a widely recognized driving force in marine communities. However, methods vary substantially among studies in both design and operation, and the effect of these differences has yet to be evaluated. We assessed the effects of several key components of assay design on estimates of herbivory to offer four recommendations.