INVESTIGADORES
VIDELA Martin
artículos
Título:
Habitat fragmentation effects on insect herbivory in Chaco Serrano woodlands
Autor/es:
VIDELA MARTIN; CAGNOLO LUCIANO; VALLADARES GRACIELA; SALVO ADRIANA; FENOGLIO MARÍA SILVINA
Revista:
Understanding biodiversity loss: an overview of forest fragmentation in South America
Editorial:
IALE electronic publication series
Referencias:
Año: 2007 p. 86 - 94
ISSN:
1570-6532
Resumen:
Loss of species and changes in community composition derived from habitat
fragmentation could affect interactions among species and ecological processes.
Herbivory is a key process for energy and nutrient transfer to higher trophic levels,
nutrient cycling and plant competitive balance. Despite its importance and
widespread study in other contexts, herbivory have rarely been investigated in
relation to habitat fragmentation. We compared insect herbivory rates in
continuous and fragmented woodlands, separately considering damage by
different feeding guilds. Herbivory, mostly by leaf chewers, was lower in remnants
than in the original woodlands. This result was not attributable to changes in plant
species composition or in relative damage by the different guilds. We have
provided the first evidence of habitat fragmentation effects on overall herbivory
rates at the plant community level. The consistency of these effects and the
underlying mechanisms deserve further study.