Effects of local tree diversity on herbivore communities diminish with increasing forest fragmentation on the landscape scale.

ABSTRACT: Forest fragmentation and plant diversity have been shown to play a crucial role for herbivorous insects (herbivores, hereafter). In turn, herbivory-induced leaf area loss is known to have direct implications for plant growth and reproduction as well as long-term consequences for ecosystem functioning and forest regeneration. So far, previous studies determined diverging responses of herbivores to forest fragmentation and plant diversity. Those inconsistent results may be owed to complex interactive effects of both co-occurring environmental factors albeit they act on different spatial scales. In this study, we investigated whether forest fragmentation on the landscape scale and tree diversity on the local habitat scale show interactive effects on the herbivore community and leaf area loss

SUBMITTER: Peter F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3990639 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature