Despite a long history of research, we lack a comprehensive understanding of the reasons behind pronounced variation in foliar losses to insects among plant species. Our aim was to test the hypothesis that plant functional traits and/or ecological strategies are good predictors of the background losses of woody plant foliage to insects (i.e. losses occurring when herbivore populations are at their normal' densities) at the global scale. We conducted a quantitative synthesis of published and original data on foliar losses of 793 species of woody plants belonging to 128 families from ca. 500 localities world-wide, representing tropical, temperate and polar climate zones. The background foliar losses to insects varied among plant life forms, increasing from dwarf shrubs to large trees, and were higher in inherently fast-growing species than in slow-growing species. These patterns supported predictions of both the apparency and growth rate (resource availability) hypotheses for data combined across localities, but only outside the tropics. Foliar losses to insects slightly but significantly increased with specific leaf area (SLA) in all climate zones. No differences were noted in background herbivory between woody plant species with deciduous and evergreen foliage, with different shade tolerance and with different successional status.Synthesis. Factors affecting the distribution of herbivory among species of woody plants differed among the climate zones, and the predictive power of at least some of the theories/hypotheses addressing plant-herbivore interactions at large spatial scales varies among climates and/or biomes. The average background losses of woody plant foliage to insects across localities can be predicted from the inherent growth rate of the plant species, its life form and SLA, although these plant characteristics jointly explain only a minor part of the total variation observed in the primary data.
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Univ British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, CanadaUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Cornwell, William K.
Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.
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Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Inst Ecol Sci, Dept Syst Ecol, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam, NetherlandsUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Cornelissen, Johannes H. C.
Allison, Steven D.
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Univ Calif Irvine, Dept Ecol & Evolut Biol, Irvine, CA 92697 USA
Univ Calif Irvine, Dept Earth Syst Sci, Irvine, CA 92697 USAUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Allison, Steven D.
Bauhus, Juergen
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Univ Freiburg, Inst Silviculture, D-79085 Freiburg, GermanyUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Bauhus, Juergen
Eggleton, Paul
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Nat Hist Museum, Dept Entomol, Soil Biodivers Grp, London SW7 5BD, EnglandUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Eggleton, Paul
Preston, Caroline M.
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Canada Pacific Forestry Ctr, Canadian Forest Serv, Victoria, BC V8Z 1M5, CanadaUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Preston, Caroline M.
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Scarff, Fiona
Weedon, James T.
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Vrije Univ Amsterdam, Inst Ecol Sci, Dept Syst Ecol, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam, NetherlandsUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Weedon, James T.
Wirth, Christian
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Max Planck Inst Biogeochem, D-07745 Jena, GermanyUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada
Wirth, Christian
Zanne, Amy E.
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Natl Evolutionary Synth Ctr, Durham, NC 27705 USA
Univ Missouri, Dept Biol, St Louis, MO 63121 USAUniv British Columbia, Biodivers Res Ctr, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z4, Canada