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Plant-Herbivore Networks in the Tropics

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Ecological Networks in the Tropics

Abstract

Understanding the patterns and processes behind the high biological diversity of tropical ecosystems has been one of the most important issues in modern ecology. Plant-herbivore interactions constitute an important percentage of biodiversity in the tropics, and their ecological and evolutionary importance has been demonstrated in a large number of studies. However, it is only very recently that plant-herbivore antagonistic interactions are being addressed from the perspective of complex networks to evaluate how different factors influence their interaction patterns. In this chapter, we provide a summary of the processes that have been reported shaping the specialization and structuring of tropical plant-herbivore networks. From the limited availability of studies in such habitats we suggest that plant-herbivore networks are spatiotemporally dynamic and are the result of multiple non-exclusive processes where seasonality, variation in resource availability, habitat type, disturbance regime and species-specific attributes contribute to structuring these highly diverse and specialized antagonistic networks.

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Acknowledgements

While writing the manuscript, EDV and KB were funded by PAPIIT-UNAM IN211916, SEP CONACYT 2015-255544 and ALC by PDTS 2600/14 (CONICET). KB acknowledges logistic support by Rubén Pérez-Ishiwara.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Antonio López-Carretero

  2. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Morelia, Michoacán, México

    Ek del-Val

  3. Instituto de Ecología, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Ciudad de México, México

    Karina Boege

Authors
  1. Antonio López-Carretero
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  2. Ek del-Val
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  3. Karina Boege
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Correspondence to Antonio López-Carretero .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Red de Ecoetologia, Instituto de Ecologia AC, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Wesley Dáttilo

  2. Universidad Veracruzana, Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico

    Victor Rico-Gray

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López-Carretero, A., del-Val, E., Boege, K. (2018). Plant-Herbivore Networks in the Tropics. In: Dáttilo, W., Rico-Gray, V. (eds) Ecological Networks in the Tropics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68228-0_8

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