Contrasting effects of land use intensity and exotic host plants on the specialization of interactions in plant-herbivore networks.

ABSTRACT: Human land use tends to decrease the diversity of native plant species and facilitate the invasion and establishment of exotic ones. Such changes in land use and plant community composition usually have negative impacts on the assemblages of native herbivorous insects. Highly specialized herbivores are expected to be especially sensitive to land use intensification and the presence of exotic plant species because they are neither capable of consuming alternative plant species of the native flora nor exotic plant species. Therefore, higher levels of land use intensity might reduce the proportion of highly specialized herbivores, which ultimately would lead to changes in the specialization of interactions in plant-herbivore networks. This study investigates the community-wide effects of land

SUBMITTER: de Araujo WS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4286214 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature