An exploration of hypotheses that explain herbivore and pathogen attack in restored plant communities.

ABSTRACT: Many hypotheses address the associations of plant community composition with natural enemies, including: (i) plant species diversity may reduce enemy attack, (ii) attack may increase as host abundance increases, (iii) enemy spillover may lead to increased attack on one host species due to transmission from another host species, or enemy dilution may lead to reduced attack on a host that would otherwise have more attack, (iv) physical characteristics of the plant community may influence attack, and (v) plant vigor may affect attack. Restoration experiments with replicated plant communities provide an exceptional opportunity to explore these hypotheses. To explore the relative predictive strengths of these related hypotheses and to investigate the potential effect of several restoration site

SUBMITTER: Blaisdell GK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4336146 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature