Livestock shifts lepidopteran herbivore community due to intraguild elimination in Mediterranean agroforestry systems.

ABSTRACT: Livestock grazing and trampling have been shown to reduce arthropod populations. Among arthropods, defoliating lepidopterans are particularly important for their impact on trees, the keystone structures of agroforestry systems. This study investigates the impact of livestock on the community of defoliating lepidopterans in agroforestry systems. We conducted both experimental and observational studies in the mid-west and western regions of the Iberian Peninsula. In our field experiment, we sampled lepidopteran caterpillars in areas with livestock and in areas where livestock had been excluded for short and long periods. To validate our experimental results, we conducted a field survey across seven areas with and without livestock in the western Iberian Peninsula. Our findings revealed that

SUBMITTER: Gaytan A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11724503 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature