Plant traits affecting susceptibility to herbivory of tree recruits in highly diverse subtropical forests
Differences in herbivory among woody species can greatly affect the functioning of forest ecosystems, particularly in species-rich (sub)tropical regions. However, the relative importance of the different plant traits which determine herbivore damage remains unclear. Defence traits can have strong effects on herbivory, but rarely studied geographical range characteristics could complement these effects through evolutionary associations with herbivores. Herein, we use a large number of morphological, chemical, phylogenetic and biogeographical characteristics to analyse interspecific differences in herbivory on tree saplings in subtropical China. Unexpectedly, we found no significant effects of chemical defence traits. Rather, herbivory was related to the plants' leaf morphology, local abundance and climatic niche characteristics, which together explained 70% of the interspecific variation in herbivory in phylogenetic regression. Our study indicates that besides defence traits and apparency to herbivores, previously neglected measures of large-scale geographical host distribution are important factors influencing local herbivory patterns among plant species.
2015-03-09 13:53:47 UTC
prep
SP08e Diversity and functional effects of herbivores, predators and saproxylics in a phytodiverse subtropical forest ecosystem
Andreas Schuldt
andreas.schuldt@forst.uni-goettingen.de
Markus Fischer
markus.fischer@ips.unibe.ch
Werner Härdtle, Prof.
werner.haerdtle@leuphana.de
Stefan Michalski
stefan.michalski@ufz.de
Erik Welk
erik.welk@botanik.uni-halle.de
Hong-Zhang Zhou
zhouhz@ioz.ac.cn
Wenzel Kröber
noreply@uni.halle.de
Bernhard Schmid, Prof.
bernhard.schmid@ieu.uzh.ch
Walter Durka
walter.durka@ufz.de
Thorsten Assmann
assmann@uni.leuphana.de
Helge Bruelheide, Prof.
helge.bruelheide@botanik.uni-halle.de
Keping Ma, Prof.
kpma@ibcas.ac.cn
David Eichenberg, Dr.
david.eichenberg@uni-leipzig.de
Schuldt, A., Bruelheide, H., Durka, W., Eichenberg, D., Fischer, M., Kröber, W., ... & Assmann, T. (2012). Plant traits affecting herbivory on tree recruits in highly diverse subtropical forests. Ecology Letters, 15(7), 732-739.
2012-03-09
accepted