Influence of plant resistance traits in selectiveness and species strength in a tropical plant-herbivore network

Abstract

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Plant–herbivore networks are highly specialized in their interactions, yet they are highly variable with regard to the relative importance of specific host species for herbivores. How host species traits determine specialization and species strength in this antagonistic network is still an unanswered question that we addressed in this study. METHODS: We assessed plant cover and antiherbivore resistance traits to assess the extent to which they accounted for the variation in specialization and strength of interactions among species in a plant–herbivore network. We studied a tropical antagonistic network including a diverse herbivore–host plant assemblages in different habitat types and climatic seasons, including host plants with different life histories. KEY RESULTS: Particular combinations of leaf toughness, trichome density, and phenolic compounds influenced herbivore specialization and host species strength, but with a significant spatiotemporal variation among plant life histories. Conversely, plant–herbivore network parameters were not influenced by plant cover. CONCLUSIONS: Our study highlights the importance of species-specific resistance traits of plants to understand the ecological and evolutionary consequences of plant–herbivore interaction networks. The novelty of our research lies in the use of a trait-based approach to understand the variation observed in diverse plant–herbivore networks.