Abstract
Invertebrate herbivores, such as insects, have been hypothesized to be less important than vertebrates in plant population dynamics (Crawley, 1989). This generalization, if true, is an important one. However, few experimental data are available on the role of invertebrates in the recruitment and density of native plants. Also, few studies analyze both interactions simultaneously. The purpose of this study was to concurrently test the importance of three biological interactions that may limit plant densities. In three concurrent experiments, we excluded insects or vertebrates, or altered the level of seedling competition with established grasses.
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Crawley, M.J. (1989). The relative importance of vertebrate and invertebrates herbivores in plant population dynamics. In: E.A. Bernays (ed), Insect-Plant Interactions,Vol. I, pp. 45–71. Boca Raton: C.R.C. Press.
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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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Louda, S.M., Potvin, M.A., Collinge, S.K. (1992). Predispersal seed predation in the limitation of native thistle. In: Menken, S.B.J., Visser, J.H., Harrewijn, P. (eds) Proceedings of the 8th International Symposium on Insect-Plant Relationships. Series Entomologica, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1654-1_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1654-1_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4723-4
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-1654-1
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