Plant neighbourhood diversity effects on leaf traits: A meta-analysis.

ABSTRACT: Leaf traits often vary with plant neighbourhood composition, which in turn may mediate plant susceptibility to herbivory. However, it is unknown whether there are any common patterns of change in leaf trait expression in response to neighbourhood diversity, and whether these responses confer increased resistance or susceptibility to herbivores.We used meta-analysis to combine data from 43 studies that examined the influence of neighbourhood diversity on eight physical and chemical leaf traits that could affect herbivory. All leaf traits apart from leaf thickness were highly plastic and exhibited significant differences between plant monocultures and species mixtures, but the direction of effect was variable. Leaf toughness was the only trait that displayed a significant decrease with plant

SUBMITTER: Felix JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10946959 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature