Using Plant-Animal Interactions to Inform Tree Selection in Tree-Based Agroecosystems for Enhanced Biodiversity.

ANIMAL-plant relationships; INSECT-plant relationships; PLANT ecology; ANIMAL ecology; AGRICULTURAL ecology; BIODIVERSITY

The Neotropical region harbors the world's most diverse terrestrial plant communities. A key component of this diversity is a range of plant-animal interactions involving frugivory, nectarivory, and insectivory. Millions of Neotropical hectares subjected to human land-use systems contain trees that are either planted by land managers or retained from the pre-existing forests. Biodiversity-conservation approaches in these systems are often ineffective because of the unfounded assumption that all plants provide equal benefits for consumers. We propose criteria for tree-species selection based on plant-animal interaction research that could guide decisionmakers. We show that tree-species identity is key for enhancing biodiversity and recommend that selection be guided by the structure of plant-animal interaction networks. We also recommend that selection practices consider the timing of resource production, because the year-round availability of food resources in the Neotropics plays an important role in the adaptive radiation of nectar- and fruit-eating vertebrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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