Direct consumptive interactions between mammalian herbivores and plant-dwelling invertebrates: prevalence, significance, and prospectus.

摘要: Mammalian herbivores induce changes in the chemical composition, phenology, distribution, and abundance of plants they feed on. Consequently, invertebrate (predominantly insects) that depend on those plants, predators parasitoids are associated with them, may be affected. This plant-mediated indirect interaction between mammals invertebrates has been extensively studied, but mammalian also directly affect plant-dwelling (PDI) by incidentally ingesting them while feeding. The ubiquity small size PDI render highly susceptible to incidental ingestion, as common this intuitively seem, very little is known about its prevalence ecological consequences. Nevertheless, cases ingestion adaptations for avoiding it have sporadically documented several groups life stages allow us carefully extrapolate conclude should nature. Incidental may, therefore, bear significant consequences PDI, shared plants. Future research would overcome technical difficulties gain better insight into understudied interaction.