Pathogens and insect herbivores drive rainforest plant diversity and composition. by Bagchi, R, Gallery, R, Gripenberg, S, Gurr, S, Narayan, L, Addis, C, Freckleton, R, Lewis, O

“…Our study provides an overall test of the Janzen-Connell hypothesis and demonstrates the crucial role that insects and pathogens have both in structuring tropical plant communities and in maintaining their remarkable diversity.…”

Pathogens and insect herbivores drive rainforest plant diversity and composition by Bagchi, R, Bagchi, R, Gallery, R, Gallery, R, Gripenberg, S, Gripenberg, S, Gurr, S, Gurr, S, Narayan, L, Addis, C, Freckleton, R, Lewis, O

“…Tropical forests are important reservoirs of biodiversity, but the processes that maintain this diversity remain poorly understood. The Janzen-Connell hypothesis suggests that specialized natural enemies such as insect herbivores and fungal pathogens maintain high diversity by elevating mortality when plant species occur at high density (negative density dependence; NDD). …”