Abstract

DIMARCO, Romina; RUSSO, Gabriel  and  FARJI-BRENER, Alejandro G. Herbivory patterns of six woody species from the temperate forest of South America: preliminar evidence to the carbon-nutrient balance hypothesis. Ecol. austral [online]. 2004, vol.14, n.1, pp.39-43. ISSN 1667-782X.

The carbon-nutrient balance hypothesis (CNBH) explains the intraspecific variation in herbivory levels suggesting that, when plants acquire resources in excess of growth demands (e.g., light), these resources are shunted into production of chemical defenses. We documented the intraspecific variation of herbivory levels in six woody plant species from the South American temperate forest to determine whether these patterns support the predictions of the CNBH. For all the species studied, plants located in sites with high light availability showed between 1.2-5 times less foliar damage than those located in sites with low light availability. These results, although preliminary, support the CNBH. Future studies could test whether the mechanisms responsible for this pattern are those proposed by the CNBH.

Keywords : Foliar damage; Intra-specific variation; Patagonia.

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