| The study of insect folivore damage in South American Nothofagus spp. is important for monitoring the health of these trees and for basic research, although empirical information is scarce. Previous evidence on N. macrocarpa (A.DC.) F.M. Vásquez and R.A. Rodr, and N. glauca (Phil.) Krasser trees of central Chile suggested that insect folivore damage in these species can be intense and here I explored damage levels of the two species and their relationship with bottom-up community attributes such as plant architecture, light availability and host age. Foliage samples were collected at fi ve fi eld sites at the end of the 2007-2008 productive season in trees of N. macrocarpa and N. glauca and damage was measured based on lamina removal (complete absence of... |
