Influence of patch size, vegetation texture, and host plant architecture on the diversity, abundance, and life history styles of sapfeeding herbivores

Several components of vegetation structure (vegetation texture and architectural complexity) emerge from the literature as important contributors to variation in herbivore abundance, diversity, and life history. Vegetation texture includes several attributes: plant density (the distance between individuals of the same species), patch size (the geographical extent of the stand), and vegetation diversity (frequency and identity of non-host plant individuals (see Kareiva, 1983). Also, individual plants can vary in architectural complexity, involving two characteristics: plant size (the spread of plant tissue through different positions in space) and variety of plant structures (number of plant parts, both in form and persistence) (see Southwood et al., 1979; Lawton, 1983). Together, these components of vegetation structure define to a large extent the habitats of herbivorous insects. Variation in these components and interactions among them result in an array of habitat possibilities, each with different consequences for herbivorous insects.