Introduced herbivores and the Allee effect in animal-pollinated plants

VÁZQUEZ, D. P.

Ecología Austral

Lugar: Buenos Aires; Año: 2007 vol. 17 p. 21 - 36

1667-7838

Interspecific interactions can be modulated by the community context in which they occur. In this paper I focus on plant--pollinator interactions and their modulation by introduced herbivores through changes in plant population density. I first develop a mathematical model that relates the population density of an animal-pollinated plant species with pollinator visitation frequency, pollination, reproduction and per capita growth rate. This model allows me to investigate how several pollination-related parameters---including relative abundance of the focal plant species, pollinator specialization, pollination quantity and quality and pollen limitation of reproduction---influence the relationship between per capita growth rate and population density. I then use this theoretical framework to discuss two case studies that have addressed the density-mediated effects of introduced herbivores on plant reproduction. This exercise allows me to point out several limitations of previous studies and to suggest avenues for future research.