Abstract
Abstract The question of whether herbivorous animals in general, or plant parasites in particular, play a substantial role in plant community dynamics is unresolved. Some believe that herbivores are typically kept so scarce by their own natural enemies that they inflict no significant impact on plant performance and hence play an inconsequential role in plant community dynamics (Hairston et al. 1960). The implication is that interspecific plant competition is the driving force in plant community dynamics. On the other hand, others argue that herbivores can have a profound effect on plant community structure and function (Crawley 1983; Westoby 1985; McNaughton 1986). They point to the dramatic changes in plant community that result from the erection of fences to exclude vertebrate herbivores (Belsky 1986), and to the large scale eradication of alien weeds that can follow the importation and release of insect biocontrol agents (Crawley 1989a).
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