Linking Anthropogenic Landscape Perturbation to Herbivory and Pathogen Leaf Damage in Tropical Tree Communities.

ABSTRACT: Anthropogenic disturbance of tropical humid forests leads to habitat loss, biodiversity decline, landscape fragmentation, altered nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration, soil erosion, pest/pathogen outbreaks, among others. Nevertheless, the impact of these alterations in multitrophic interactions, including host-pathogen and vector-pathogen dynamics, is still not well understood in wild plants. This study aimed to provide insights into the main drivers for the incidence of herbivory and plant pathogen damage, specifically, into how vegetation traits at the local and landscape scale modulate such interactions. For this purpose, in the tropical forest of Calakmul (Campeche, Mexico), we characterised the foliar damage caused by herbivores and pathogens in woody vegetation of 13 sampling si

SUBMITTER: Pablo-Rodriguez JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10675074 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature