Murali K S, Sukumar R
Indian Institute of Science, Centre for Ecological Sciences, 560 012, Bangalore, India.
Oecologia. 1993 May;94(1):114-119. doi: 10.1007/BF00317311.
Patterns of leaf-flushing phenology of trees in relation to insect herbivore damage were studied at two sites in a seasonal tropical dry forest in Mudumalai, southern India, from April 1988 to August 1990. At both sites the trees began to flush leaves during the dry season, reaching a peak leaf-flushing phase before the onset of rains. Herbivorous insects emerged with the rains and attained a peak biomass during the wet months. Trees that flushed leaves later in the season suffered significantly higher damage by insects compared to those that flushed early or in synchrony during the peak flushing phase. Species whose leaves were endowed with physical defenses such as waxes suffered less damage than those not possessing such defenses. There was a positive association between the abundance of a species and leaf damage levels. These observations indicate that herbivory may have played a major role in moulding leaf flushing phenology in trees of the seasonal tropics.
1988年4月至1990年8月，在印度南部穆杜马莱的一个季节性热带干燥森林的两个地点，研究了树木的叶片抽芽物候模式与昆虫食草动物损害之间的关系。在这两个地点，树木在旱季开始抽芽，在雨季来临前达到叶片抽芽的高峰期。食草昆虫随着雨季出现，并在湿润月份达到生物量峰值。与在高峰期较早或同步抽芽的树木相比，在季节后期抽芽的树木遭受昆虫的损害要大得多。叶片具有蜡质等物理防御的物种比没有这种防御的物种遭受的损害要小。一个物种的丰度与叶片损害水平之间存在正相关关系。这些观察结果表明，食草作用可能在塑造季节性热带地区树木的叶片抽芽物候方面发挥了重要作用。
