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Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter

It is generally believed that tropical forests suffer more herbivory, as a proportion of leaf area, than do temperate forests. Reviews so far have compared studies performed by different authors using very different methodologies. Here we carried out studies on 125 samples at 86 localities in easter...

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Main Authors: Adams, Jonathan M., Zhang, Yangjian, Hamzah, Mohd Basri, Ab Shukor, Nor Aini
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: The Ecological Society of Japan 2009
Online Access:http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6008/1/6008.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6008/
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11284-009-0623-4
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spelling my.upm.eprints.60082016-05-25T07:42:04Z http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6008/ Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter Adams, Jonathan M. Zhang, Yangjian Hamzah, Mohd Basri Ab Shukor, Nor Aini It is generally believed that tropical forests suffer more herbivory, as a proportion of leaf area, than do temperate forests. Reviews so far have compared studies performed by different authors using very different methodologies. Here we carried out studies on 125 samples at 86 localities in eastern North America and on 75 samples taken at five localities in Malaysia and Singapore, including both mature secondary and primary forest. Samples in North America were spread over 3 years. In tropical Asia, the samples were taken at four time slices at least 8 months apart, scattered over a 4-year period. Total herbivore damage during the lifetime of tree leaves was estimated from the percentage area damaged in recently fallen, undecayed leaves from the forest floor, using scanner-linked software. In terms of percentage damage per leaf, the results suggest that lowland tropical forest has significantly higher leaf herbivory (5.82%) than temperate forest (5.48%). This is in accord with the general expectation that aseasonal tropical forests should have more herbivory damage. However, when percentage damage ‘per unit time of growing season’ is calculated based on an estimate of leaf lifetime in the tropics, tropical lowland herbivory damage turns out to be a fraction (about one half) of that in the temperate zone. Thus, these results tend to put in question the widely held view that herbivore damage is markedly more intense in the tropics. Over total leaf lifetime, the intensity of damage in the tropical area is only slightly higher than temperate regions. In terms of intensity of herbivory on leaves per unit of time, the opposite seems to be the case. It is uncertain which index should be taken as more significant in interpreting the selection pressure for anti-herbivore defenses in the tropics. The Ecological Society of Japan 2009 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6008/1/6008.pdf Adams, Jonathan M. and Zhang, Yangjian and Hamzah, Mohd Basri and Ab Shukor, Nor Aini (2009) Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter. Ecological Research, 24 (6). pp. 1381-1392. ISSN 0912-3814; ESSN: 1440-1703 http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11284-009-0623-4 10.1007/s11284-009-0623-4
institution Universiti Putra Malaysia
building UPM Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Putra Malaysia
content_source UPM Institutional Repository
url_provider http://psasir.upm.edu.my/
language English
description It is generally believed that tropical forests suffer more herbivory, as a proportion of leaf area, than do temperate forests. Reviews so far have compared studies performed by different authors using very different methodologies. Here we carried out studies on 125 samples at 86 localities in eastern North America and on 75 samples taken at five localities in Malaysia and Singapore, including both mature secondary and primary forest. Samples in North America were spread over 3 years. In tropical Asia, the samples were taken at four time slices at least 8 months apart, scattered over a 4-year period. Total herbivore damage during the lifetime of tree leaves was estimated from the percentage area damaged in recently fallen, undecayed leaves from the forest floor, using scanner-linked software. In terms of percentage damage per leaf, the results suggest that lowland tropical forest has significantly higher leaf herbivory (5.82%) than temperate forest (5.48%). This is in accord with the general expectation that aseasonal tropical forests should have more herbivory damage. However, when percentage damage ‘per unit time of growing season’ is calculated based on an estimate of leaf lifetime in the tropics, tropical lowland herbivory damage turns out to be a fraction (about one half) of that in the temperate zone. Thus, these results tend to put in question the widely held view that herbivore damage is markedly more intense in the tropics. Over total leaf lifetime, the intensity of damage in the tropical area is only slightly higher than temperate regions. In terms of intensity of herbivory on leaves per unit of time, the opposite seems to be the case. It is uncertain which index should be taken as more significant in interpreting the selection pressure for anti-herbivore defenses in the tropics.
format Article
author Adams, Jonathan M.
Zhang, Yangjian
Hamzah, Mohd Basri
Ab Shukor, Nor Aini
spellingShingle Adams, Jonathan M.
Zhang, Yangjian
Hamzah, Mohd Basri
Ab Shukor, Nor Aini
Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
author_facet Adams, Jonathan M.
Zhang, Yangjian
Hamzah, Mohd Basri
Ab Shukor, Nor Aini
author_sort Adams, Jonathan M.
title Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
title_short Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
title_full Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
title_fullStr Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
title_full_unstemmed Do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? A comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
title_sort do tropical forest leaves suffer more insect herbivory? a comparison of tropical versus temperate herbivory, estimated from leaf litter
publisher The Ecological Society of Japan
publishDate 2009
url http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6008/1/6008.pdf
http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/6008/
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11284-009-0623-4
_version_ 1643823358628855808
score 13.211869

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