Ontogeny of Herbivory on Leaves in a Tropical Rain Forest in Madagascar

Abstract

This study was undertaken to ascertain the extent to which damage inflicted by different agents to foliage in a tropical rain forest in Madagascar varied during the flushing and maturation of leaves. There was an ontogenetic sequence in which agents attacked leaves. New, tender foliage was attacked primarily by grazing insects, and by the time the leaf had hardened, it had already suffered a high proportion of the total loss of leaf area it would sustain from grazers throughout its life. As grazing waned, other agents, such as fungi, skeletonizing insects, and galls, came into play. The last agent was epiphyllae; it started late and gradually accumulated over the life of the leaf.