Insect herbivores increase mortality and reduce tree seedling growth of some species in temperate forest canopy gaps.

ABSTRACT: Insect herbivores help maintain forest diversity through selective predation on seedlings of vulnerable tree species. Although the role of natural enemies has been well-studied in tropical systems, relatively few studies have experimentally manipulated insect abundance in temperate forests and tracked impacts over multiple years. We conducted a three-year experiment (2012-2014) deterring insect herbivores from seedlings in new treefall gaps in deciduous hardwood forests in Maryland. During this study, we tracked recruitment of all tree seedlings, as well as survivorship and growth of 889 individual seedlings from five tree species: Acer rubrum, Fagus grandifolia, Fraxinus spp., Liriodendron tulipifera, and Liquidambar styraciflua. Insect herbivores had li

SUBMITTER: Lemoine NP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5363256 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature