🚀 go-pugleaf

Morin, you should check the co-evolution concept. Also if the plant as
consequence of the herbivorous feeding loose fitness you can said that the
herbivorous produces a damage to the plant independently if the
herbivorous is a native or alien species. Finally, herbivory and
pollination are concept not comparable because the first one refers to a
negative-positive relationship and the second one is positive for both
organism.
Guillermo

On Tue, 10 Feb 1998, mosquin wrote:

> Kristina A. Ernest wrote:
> >
> > I will be purchasing a portable leaf area meter to do field measurements
> > of % leaf area damaged by herbivores.  I have some information on ADC
> > (from Dynamax) and CID meters, but could consider others as well.  Can
> > anyone recommend which meter is best?
> > Thanks,
> > Kris Ernest
> >
> Kristina:
> I am not comfortable with your reference to a leaf area as being
> "damaged" by herbivores. Perhaps an alien herbivorous species can be
> said to cause such damage. However, any native herbivores are part of
> the larger ecosystem and have co-evolved with the leaves they eat. And
> over long spans of time, the "eating" of leaves of thousands of species
> out there has resulted in an enormous evolution of herbivores as well as
> the dependent carnivores in most ecosystems. So, really there should be
> a more accurate terminology here.
>
> I am also reminded of a parallel example:  thus, in the wider scheme of
> things, a native pollinator (foraging for and eating nectar or pollen)
> cannot be said to cause damage the flower (although often there is
> physical damage) since we have here an evolved symbiotic relationship.
> As well, herbivory in aquatic ecosystems has an enormous food chain
> effect on the small and large dependent fauna.  -Hope you find the best
> meter.
>
> Ted Mosquin
> --
>