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Science 10 March 2006:
Vol. 311. no. 5766, pp. 1459 - 1461
DOI: 10.1126/science.1121407
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Reports

Opposing Effects of Native and Exotic Herbivores on Plant Invasions

John D. Parker,* Deron E. Burkepile, Mark E. Hay{dagger}

Exotic species are widely assumed to thrive because they lack natural enemies in their new ranges. However, a meta-analysis of 63 manipulative field studies including more than 100 exotic plant species revealed that native herbivores suppressed exotic plants, whereas exotic herbivores facilitated both the abundance and species richness of exotic plants. Both outcomes suggest that plants are especially susceptible to novel, generalist herbivores that they have not been selected to resist. Thus, native herbivores provide biotic resistance to plant invasions, but the widespread replacement of native with exotic herbivores eliminates this ecosystem service, facilitates plant invasions, and triggers an invasional "meltdown."

School of Biology, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA 30332, USA.

* Present address: Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA. E-mail: jdp52{at}cornell.edu

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mark.hay{at}biology.gatech.edu

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