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Native insects and invasive plants encounters

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Abstract

Invasive plants disrupt both floral and faunal communities of the invaded regions. Influence of invasive plants on ecosystem functioning and dynamics in the invaded region can be understood by taking into consideration complex interactions between native insects and non-native plants. This review attempts to synthesize available key literature on the effects of plant invasion on native insect communities and the role of native insects in control or spread of invasive plants. The toxic or attractive nature of invasive plants will have bearing on the novel associations that native insects form with the invasive plants and consequently in regulating their population. This study examines the consequences of herbivory and pollination on invasive plants upon encounters with native insects in the invaded regions and illustrates a sequence of possible changes that native insects and invasive plants interactions may bring about within a biotic community.

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Acknowledgments

AS acknowledges Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) support from University Grant Commission, New Delhi. SD and GPS acknowledge support from Science and Engineering Research Board, Department of Science and Technology, India, and University of Delhi, India, for research funding. We thank the reviewers and the Associate Editor for suggestions that greatly improved the manuscript. We also thank Adrienne Gembala, San Francisco, USA, and Mackenzie Kwak, Melbourne, Australia, for help with English language editing.

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  1. Department of Environmental Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi, 110007, India

    Anupam Sunny, Swati Diwakar & Gyan Prakash Sharma

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  1. Anupam Sunny
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  2. Swati Diwakar
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Correspondence to Swati Diwakar.

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Sunny, A., Diwakar, S. & Sharma, G.P. Native insects and invasive plants encounters. Arthropod-Plant Interactions 9, 323–331 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11829-015-9384-x

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