Assessing invertebrate herbivory in human‐modified tropical forest canopies

Barreto, Julia; Berenguer, Erika; Ferreira, Joice; Joly, Carlos A.; Malhi, Yadvinder; Seixas, Marina Maria Moraes de; Barlow, Jos

doi:10.1002/ece3.7295

Cited by 9 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…In the latter study, authors did not investigate potential mechanisms driving herbivory under disturbances, but worked under more similar conditions to our study, in Amazonia and with fire as one of the disturbances. However, we found a considerably higher herbivory (48%) caused by our experimental recurrent fires than these authors found in logged and logged‐and‐burned forests in Central Amazon, which combined suffered 33% more herbivory than undisturbed and secondary forests (Barreto et al, 2021). This difference may be partially caused by their high level of variation within logged and logged‐and‐burned forests, that are likely under different recovery stages (Barreto et al, 2021), while our experimental plots all experienced the same disturbance and recovery time.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

“…However, we found a considerably higher herbivory (48%) caused by our experimental recurrent fires than these authors found in logged and logged‐and‐burned forests in Central Amazon, which combined suffered 33% more herbivory than undisturbed and secondary forests (Barreto et al, 2021). This difference may be partially caused by their high level of variation within logged and logged‐and‐burned forests, that are likely under different recovery stages (Barreto et al, 2021), while our experimental plots all experienced the same disturbance and recovery time. Additionally, their average herbivory in the undisturbed forest (5.9%) was much higher than ours (2.2%), suggesting a higher overall herbivory in central than in the southern edges of Amazonia.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

“…Previous studies in tropical rain forests have already shown higher herbivory in non‐seedling plants due to human disturbances such as deforestation (Dodonov et al, 2016), and logging and fire (Barreto et al, 2021). In the former study, authors have also investigated the potential role of top‐down control as a mechanism for changes in herbivory levels, but focused only on birds; similarly to our results, a top‐down control of insect herbivores by birds did not explain the higher herbivory in fragmented Atlantic rain forests (Dodonov et al, 2016)—supporting that if top‐down control has a role on herbivory, it should be due to another group of predators.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Previous studies in tropical rain forests have already shown higher herbivory in non-seedling plants due to human disturbances such as deforestation (Dodonov et al, 2016), and logging and fire (Barreto et al, 2021). In the former study, authors have also investigated the potential role of top-down control as a mechanism for changes in herbivory levels, but focused only on birds;…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies in burned Amazonian forests found increased herbivory by chewing insects in seedlings (Massad et al, 2015) and small trees (Barreto et al, 2021), but the underlying mechanisms behind this pattern are yet unknown. Here we took advantage of a large-scale experiment established in southeastern Amazonia in 2004 to investigate how fires impact herbivory in trees.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 97%

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Reduced predation by arthropods and higher herbivory in burned Amazonian forests

et al. 2022

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Biodiversity losses have increased in tropical forests due to fire-related disturbances.As landscape fragmentation and climate change increase, fires will become more frequent and widespread across tropical rain forests worldwide, with important implications for forest dynamics by altering plant-animal interactions. Here we tested the hypothesis that recurrent fires in tropical rain forests change bottom-up and topdown forces controlling the abundance of insect herbivores, which in turn increases herbivory. To quantify herbivory, we collected 50 leaves per tree of five species in burned and unburned experimental plots (N = 75) in southeastern Amazonian forests.We measured leaf nitrogen content and leaf thickness of tree leaves as bottom-up factors that could explain differences in herbivory; we measured predation pressure on model caterpillars and estimated the abundance of predatory ants as top-down factors. We found higher herbivory in burned than in unburned forests, as well as lower predator attacks in caterpillar models and lower abundance of predatory ants.Leaf nitrogen content did not vary across treatments. Birds attacked model caterpillars more frequently in burned than in unburned forests, and leaf thickness was higher in burned forests, but these factors together were not enough to offset the higher herbivory in burned plots. Fire degrades tropical forests not only by killing trees and altering their structure and community dynamics, but also by reducing predatory arthropods and disrupting predator-prey interactions, which triggers increased herbivory. These indirect impacts of recurrent fires probably contribute to further alter forest structure, functioning, and to decrease regeneration in Amazonian forests.

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 55%