Herbivore and detritivore effects on rainforest plant production are altered by disturbance.

ABSTRACT: Consumer effects on rainforest primary production are often considered negligible because herbivores and macrodetritivores usually consume a small fraction of annual plant and litter production, even though consumers are known to have effects on plant production and composition in nontropical systems. Disturbances, such as treefall gaps, however, often increase resources to understory food webs, thereby increasing herbivory and feeding rates of detritivores. This increase in consumption could lead to more prominent ecosystem-level effects of consumers after disturbances, such as storms that cause light gaps. We determined how the effects of invertebrate herbivores (walking sticks) and detritivores (litter snails) on understory plant growth may be altered by disturbances in a Puerto Rican r

SUBMITTER: Prather CM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6635927 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature