An invasive herbivore structures plant competitive dynamics

Dynamics of a discrete-time plant-herbivore model

Reduced competitive ability in an invasive plant

Oliver Bossdorf*, Daniel Prati, Harald Auge and Bernhard Schmid Department of Community Ecology, UFZ Centre for Environmental Research, D-06120 Halle, Germany Institute of Environmental Sciences, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstr. 190, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland *Correspondence: E-mail: [email protected] Abstract One explanation for successful plant invaders is that they evolved to be...

Dynamics of a plant-herbivore model.

We formulate a simple host-parasite type model to study the interaction of certain plants and herbivores. Our two-dimensional discrete-time model utilizes leaf and herbivore biomass as state variables. The parameter space consists of the growth rate of the host population and a parameter describing the damage inflicted by herbivores. We present insightful bifurcation diagrams in that parameter ...

Variation in herbivore-mediated indirect effects of an invasive plant on a native plant.

Theory predicts that damage by a shared herbivore to a secondary host plant species may either be higher or lower in the vicinity of a preferred host plant species. To evaluate the importance of ecological factors, such as host plant proximity and density, in determining the direction and strength of such herbivore-mediated indirect effects, we quantified oviposition by the exotic weevil Rhinoc...

Modeling the Impact of Plant Toxicity on Plant–Herbivore Dynamics

Numerous empirical studies over the past two decades have documented substantial effects of plant toxins on diet choice and feeding behavior of herbivores, but analytical models have failed thus far to incorporate toxin-mediated effects of browsing on plant population dynamics. We study a mathematical model that incorporates plant toxicity in the functional response of plant–herbivore interacti...