In the ecological context of insect-plant interactions, the interdependence of each other is important for their survival in complex ecosystem. Insect herbivores locate suitable host plants that can provide better resources for food and reproduction. In nocturnal herbivores, especially Lepidopterans, olfaction plays a major role during the selection of suitable host plants. Generally, Lepidopte...

0006-3207/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier Ltd. A doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2011.06.019 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 506 452 6047; fax E-mail address: [email protected] (S.B. Heard). Population-level impacts of insect herbivory on rare and endangered plants are poorly understood, being frequently suggested but seldom quantified. We compiled 37 studies from the primary literature encompassing 35 rare...

Large plants are often more conspicuous and more attractive for associated animals than small plants, e.g. due to their wider range of resources. Therefore, plant size can positively affect species richness of associated animals, as shown for single groups of herbivores, but studies usually consider intraspecific size differences of plants in unstandardised environments. As comprehensive tests ...

Large mammalian herbivores manifest a strong top-down control on ecosystems that can transform entire landscapes, but their impacts have not been reviewed in the context of terrestrial carbon storage. Here, we evaluate the effects of plant biomass consumption by large mammalian herbivores (>10 kg adult biomass), and the responses of ecosystems to these herbivores, on carbon stocks in temperate ...

Mammalian herbivores can have pronounced effects on plant diversity but are currently declining in many productive ecosystems through direct extirpation, habitat loss and fragmentation, while being simultaneously introduced as livestock in other, often unproductive, ecosystems that lacked such species during recent evolutionary times. The biodiversity consequences of these changes are still poo...

Current hypotheses to explain dynamic transitions between savanna grasslands and woodlands in Africa focus on grazing by elephant or the influence of fire. Using a simple mathematical model, this paper argues that interactions between small herbivores such as impala or buffalo and large herbivores such as elephant or giraffe may provide a plausible alternative hypothesis. The interplay of compe...

The extraordinary abundance of ants in tropical rainforest canopies has led to speculation that numerous arboreal ant taxa feed principally as "herbivores" of plant and insect exudates. Based on nitrogen (N) isotope ratios of plants, known herbivores, arthropod predators, and ants from Amazonia and Borneo, we find that many arboreal ant species obtain little N through predation and scavenging. ...