Phytophagous insects on native and non-native host plants: Combining the community approach and the biogeographical approach

Kim Meijer, Hidde Zemel, Satoshi Chiba, Christian Smit, Leo W Beukeboom, Menno Schilthuizen

OnderzoeksoutputAcademicpeer review

10 Citaten (Scopus)
259 Downloads (Pure)

Samenvatting

During the past centuries, humans have introduced many plant species in areas where they do not naturally occur. Some of these species establish populations and in some cases become invasive, causing economic and ecological damage. Which factors determine the success of non-native plants is still incompletely understood, but the absence of natural enemies in the invaded area (Enemy Release Hypothesis; ERH) is one of the most popular explanations. One of the predictions of the ERH, a reduced herbivore load on non-native plants compared with native ones, has been repeatedly tested. However, many studies have either used a community approach (sampling from native and non-native species in the same community) or a biogeographical approach (sampling from the same plant species in areas where it is native and where it is non-native). Either method can sometimes lead to inconclusive results. To resolve this, we here add to the small number of studies that combine both approaches. We do so in a single study of insect herbivory on 47 woody plant species (trees, shrubs, and vines) in the Netherlands and Japan. We find higher herbivore diversity, higher herbivore load and more herbivory on native plants than on non-native plants, generating support for the enemy release hypothesis.

Originele taal-2English
Artikelnummere0125607
Aantal pagina's12
TijdschriftPLoS ONE
Volume10
Nummer van het tijdschrift5
DOI's
StatusPublished - 8-mei-2015

Vingerafdruk

Duik in de onderzoeksthema's van 'Phytophagous insects on native and non-native host plants: Combining the community approach and the biogeographical approach'. Samen vormen ze een unieke vingerafdruk.

Citeer dit