Spatial and temporal patterns of a pulsed resource dynamically drive the distribution of specialist herbivores.

ABSTRACT: Patterns and drivers of the spatio-temporal distribution of herbivores are key elements of their ecological and evolutionary impacts on plant populations. Herbivore spatial distributions may be influenced by increased (RCH: resource concentration hypothesis) or decreased (RDH: resource dilution hypothesis) resource densities, but the effect of temporal variations in resource densities on such distributions remains poorly documented. We used a survey of a masting tree species and its seed predators in Southeastern France to address the effect of a host's pulsed resource on the spatio-temporal distributions of highly specialized insect herbivores feeding on seeds. Variations in both resource and seed predator densities were assessed by estimating seed production and seed infestation rates in

SUBMITTER: Doublet V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6882897 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature