Abstract
The interactions of host plants with herbivores can be mediated by factors other than population sizes or biomass alone. Recent evidence indicates that features of the vegetation (loosely termed “plant quality”) may change in response to herbivory and may, in turn, influence the performance of herbivores (i.e. by affecting survivorship, fecundity, or growth rates). A model which incorporates the effect of plant quality is presented. First it is shown that the frequency distribution of plant quality in the vegetation (p(q, t)) satisfies an equation of conservation. Then, qualitative aspects of the system are discussed in three situations: (1) mobile herbivores interacting with all plants; (2) sessile herbivores feeding exclusively on single plants; (3) intermediate situations in which mobility is moderate to low.
I show that depending on the plant quality response, f(q, h), and the herbivore response, g(q, h), it is possible to obtain stable equilibria as well as stable periodic oscillations. In the former case the populations tend to lose their heterogeneity. In the latter case, oscillations are accompanied by alternate narrowing and broadening of the distribution. Empirical testing and further research are suggested.
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Edelstein-Keshet, L. Mathematical theory for plant—herbivore systems. J. Math. Biology 24, 25–58 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00275719
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00275719