Tropes

ScienceDaily_2014 00740.txt

#Herbivores play important role in protecting habitats from invasive speciesherbivores (species that eat plants; e g. caterpillars) consume more nonnative (introduced from other places) oak leaf material in areas with diverse native plant communities than in less diverse communities. Why diverse plant communities tend to resist invasion by nonnative plants remains uncertain. Researchers from the Illinois Natural history Survey and the Morton Arboretum have been examining the potential role of herbivores on the invasion of nonnative plant species in diverse plant communities. The researchers examined herbivore damage on leaves of nonnative oak trees in arboreta across the United states. They found that nonnative oaks in regions with high oak species diversity showed more leaf damage than those in regions with low diversity. Ian S. Pearse lead author on the study in the current issue of the Royal Society journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B says that competition for resources has often been thought to limit invasions in diverse plant communities but herbivory could also limit these invasions. While native oaks still suffered more leaf damage than nonnative oaks overall in the absence of native oaks nonnative oaks showed even less leaf damage. Pearse conjectures Diverse plant communities are more likely to contain herbivores that are able to consume a nonnative species which may help to explain why diverse communities are able to resist invaders while others are dominated easily. As the introduction of nonnative species increases protection of intact plant communities and their associated herbivores may become critical to guarding against the nonnative species invaders. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Prairie Research Institute. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. Journal Reference e

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