Novel Weapons Testing: Are Invasive Plants More Chemically Defended than Native Plants?
Figure 2
Local abundance, but not time since introduction, predicts native herbivore preference for extracted exotic plant chemistry.
Relationship between leaf extract consumption and (A) date of introduction and (B) local plant abundance. There was no relationship between the earliest recorded date of introduction and extract deterrence to a native herbivore (A). However, plant species with deterrent secondary chemistry were the least abundant species in forest understory communities (B), a pattern that held across both native and exotic species (non-significant origin*abundance interaction). Filled circles represent exotic species; open circles represent native species.