Abstract
THERE is considerable variation in the levels of herbivory experienced by woody species in ecosystems as diverse as arctic shrub tundra, boreal forests, tropical rain forests and African savannas1. An important objective of evolutionary ecology is the formulation of a hypothesis that can explain this variation. One such hypothesis predicts that mature leaves of inherently slowly growing species adapted to resource-limited habitats2,3 such as infertile soil4 are, because of more effective chemical defences, less preferred as a food source by herbivores than mature leaves of inherently rapidly growing species adapted to productive habitats2,3,5-8. In agreement with this prediction, we found positive correlations between the inherent growth rates of nine South African woody species and kudu and impala preferences for their mature leaves. Thus, the resource availability hypothesis of plant antiherbivore defence2,3,5-8 could explain why large African herbivores feed less on woody vegetation of dystrophic savanna-woodlands than on woody vegetation of eutrophic savannas9.
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Bryant, J., Kuropat, P., Cooper, S. et al. Resource availability hypothesis of plant antiherbivore defence tested in a South African savanna ecosystem. Nature 340, 227–229 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1038/340227a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/340227a0
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