Are invertebrate herbivores of freshwater macrophytes scarce in tropical wetlands?

Disentangling vegetation structure effect on invertebrate communities in contrasting growth periods in subtropical protected wetlands of Argentina

“…Regarding to the taxonomic composition, our results agree with previous studies showing high taxonomical and functional complexity of invertebrate assemblages associated with subtropical macrophytes (Poi et al 2017a, 2021, Gallardo et al 2019, Franceschini et al 2020a.…”

“…It has long been known that macrophytes with greater structural complexity support a higher abundance (Karrasowska & Mikulski 1960, Korinkova 1971, O'Hare & Murphy 1999, Thomaz et al 2008, Dibble & Thomaz 2009, Ferreiro et al 2011, Walker et al 2013) and richness of macroinvertebrates (Fontanarrosa et al 2013). In addition, there is evidence that the vegetation structure provided by different macrophytes of different growth forms shows a specific taxonomical and functional composition of invertebrate herbivore assemblages, with different dominance of "strict aquatics", "semiaquatics" and "land water interface invertebrates" on the vegetation structure of submersed, floating and emergent macrophyte species (Franceschini et al 2020a). Fluctuations in macrophyte coverage and composition, could also explain the temporal changes observed in the structure of the macroinvertebrate community in subtropical wetlands (Fontanarrosa et al 2013).…”