Tree diversity reduces pest damage in mature forests across Europe.
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ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Guyot V
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4881340 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Publications
Tree diversity reduces pest damage in mature forests across Europe.
Guyot Virginie V Castagneyrol Bastien B Vialatte Aude A Deconchat Marc M Jactel Hervé H
Biology letters 20160401 4
Forest pest damage is expected to increase with global change. Tree diversity could mitigate this impact, but unambiguous demonstration of the diversity-resistance relationship is lacking in semi-natural mature forests. We used a network of 208 forest plots sampled along two orthogonal gradients of increasing tree species richness and latitudes to assess total tree defoliation in Europe. We found a positive relationship between tree species richness and resistance to insect herbivores: overall d ...[more]
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