[APWG] Abstract of Opposing Effects of Native and Exotic Herbivores on Plant Invasions - Science article
Craig Dremann
craig at ecoseeds.com
Wed Mar 15 09:24:56 CST 2006
Dear All,
Interesting article, but unless you subscribe to SCIENCE, or pay for the
article, on-line you can only read the free abstract, which follows:
Science 10 March 2006: Vol. 311. no. 5766, pp. 1459 - 1461
Reports
Opposing Effects of
Native and Exotic
Herbivores on Plant
Invasions
John D. Parker,*
Deron E. Burkepile, Mark E. Hay
Exotic species are widely assumed to
thrive because they lack natural enemies in
their new ranges. However, a
meta-analysis of 63 manipulative field
studies including more than 100 exotic
plant species revealed that native
herbivores suppressed exotic plants,
whereas exotic herbivores facilitated both
the abundance and species richness of
exotic plants. Both outcomes suggest that
plants are especially susceptible to novel,
generalist herbivores that they have not
been selected to resist. Thus, native
herbivores provide biotic resistance to
plant invasions, but the widespread
replacement of native with exotic
herbivores eliminates this ecosystem
service, facilitates plant invasions, and
triggers an invasional "meltdown."
School of Biology, Georgia Institute of
Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.
* Present address: Department of Ecology
and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell
University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
E-mail: jdp52{at}cornell.edu
To whom correspondence should be
addressed. E-mail:
mark.hay{at}biology.gatech.edu
-----------------------------------
Exotic herbivores like sheep and cows?
Sincerely, Craig Dremann (650) 325-7333
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