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Science 30 July 2004:
Vol. 305. no. 5684, pp. 663 - 665
DOI: 10.1126/science.1098982
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Reports

Herbivores Promote Habitat Specialization by Trees in Amazonian Forests

Paul V. A. Fine,1,2* Italo Mesones,3 Phyllis D. Coley1

In an edaphically heterogeneous area in the Peruvian Amazon, clay soils and nutrient-poor white sands each harbor distinctive plant communities. To determine whether a trade-off between growth and antiherbivore defense enforces habitat specialization on these two soil types, we conducted a reciprocal transplant study of seedlings of 20 species from sixgenera of phylogenetically independent pairs of edaphic specialist trees and manipulated the presence of herbivores. Clay specialist species grew significantly faster than white-sand specialists in both soil types when protected from herbivores. However, when unprotected, white-sand specialists dominated in white-sand forests and clay specialists dominated in clay forests. Therefore, habitat specialization in this system results from an interaction of herbivore pressure with soil type.

1 Department of Biology, University of Utah, 257 S. 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA.
2 Environmental and Conservation Programs and Department of Botany, Field Museum of Natural History, 1400 S. Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605, USA.
3 Department of Forestry, Universidad Nacional de la Amazonía Peruana, Plaza Serafín Filomeno 246, Iquitos, Peru.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: fine{at}biology.utah.edu

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