76 Rodolfo Dirzo and Karina Boege
bottom-up factors but also by top-down controls
(see Dyer and Coley 2002). Clearly, our empha-
sis on the former provides a limited panorama
and further work is needed to assess how the
observed patterns accommodate to the possible
variations in influence from the third trophic level.
This is an excitin gfield of research that warrants
consideration.
Finally, this study highlights the importance
of TDF to our general understanding of trop-
ical biology, including a variety of aspects of
ecological and evolutionary significance, such as
herbivory. The value of the perspectives that com-
parisons with TDFs may offer, and the need to
shift the balance of attention towards a more dry-
centric interest, can hardly be overemphasized,
given their great concentration of biodiversity and
endemism (see Trejo and Dirzo 2002), their eco-
logical services to society (Maasset al. 2005), and
the fact that TDFs are considered the most threat-
ened tropical ecosystems (Janzen 1988, Trejo and
Dirzo 2000).
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
We thank Paul Fine, Lissy Coley, Mike Donoghue,
and Radika Bahskar for constructive comments.
Logistical support to write this chapter was pro-
vided by Hal Mooney’s lab at Stanford University.
We are grateful to Walter Carson and Stefan
Schnitzer for their invitation and support to write
this chapter. This study was partly supported by a
UNAM-DGAPA grant to R.D.
REFERENCES
Aide, T.M. (1988) Herbivory as a selective agent on the
timin gof leaf production in a tropical understory
community.Nature336, 574–575.
Appel, H.M., Govenor, H.L., D’Ascenzo, M., Siska, E.,
and Schultz, J.C. (2001) Limitations of foliar assays
of foliar phenolics in ecological studies.Journal of
Chemical Ecology27, 765–778.
Armbruster, W.S. (1992) Phylogeny and the evolution
of plant–animal interactions.BioScience42, 12–20.
Benitez-Malvido, J. and Kossmann-Ferraz, I.D. (1999)
Litter cover variability affects seedlin gperformance
and herbivory.Biotropica31, 598–606.
Boege, K. (2004) Induced responses in three tropical
dry forest plant species: direct and indirect effects on
herbivory.Oikos107, 541–548.
Boege, K. (2005) Herbivore attack inCasearia nitida
influenced by plant ontogenetic variation in foliage
quality and plant architecture. Oecologia 143,
117–125.
Boege, K. and Marquis, R.J. (2006) Plant quality and pre-
dation risk mediated by plant ontogeny: consequences
for herbivores and plants.Oikos115, 559–572.
Carrazco-Carballido, P.V. (2002)Variación intraespecífica
en la herbivoría en plantas de fenología contrastante en la
selva baja de Huautla.TesisdeLicenciatura,Universidad
Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City.
Coley, P.D. (1982) Rates of herbivory on different tropical
trees. In E.G.J. Leigh, A.S. Rand, and D.M. Windsor
(eds),Ecology of a Tropical Forest: Seasonal Rhythms
and Long-term Changes. Smithsonian Institution Press,
Washington, DC, pp. 123–132.
Coley, P.D. (1983) Herbivory and defensive character-
istics of tree species in a lowland tropical forest.
Ecological Monographs53, 209–233.
Coley, P.D. and Aide, M.T. (1991) Comparison of her-
bivory and plant defenses in temperate and tropical
broad-leaved forests. In P.W. Price, M. Lewinsohn,
G.W. Fernandes, and W.W. Bneson (eds),Plant–Animal
Interactions:Evolutionary Ecology in Tropical and Tem-
perate Regions.John Wiley & Sons.
Coley, P.D. and Barone, J.A. (1996) Herbivory and plant
defenses in tropical forests.Annual Review of Ecology
and Systematics27, 305–335.
Coley, P.D., Bryant, J.P., and Chapin, F.S. (1985) Resource
availability and plant herbivore defense.Science230,
895–899.
de la Cruz, M. and Dirzo, R. (1987) A survey of the stand-
in glevels of herbivory in seedlin gs from a Mexican
rain forest.Biotropica19, 98–106.
Dirzo, R. (1984) Herbivory: a phytocentric overview. In
R. Dirzo and J. Sarukhan (eds),Perspectives on Plant
Ecology.Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, pp. 141–165.
Dirzo, R. (1987) Estudios sobre interacciones planta-
herbívoro en “Los Tuxtlas,” VeracruzRevista de Biolo-
gia Tropical35, 119–131.
Dirzo,R.(2001)Tropicalforests.InF.S.Chapin,O.E.Sala,
and E. Hubert-Shannwald (eds),Global Biodiversity
in a Changing Environment. Springer, New York,
pp. 251–276.
Dirzo, R. and Domínguez, C. (1995) Plant–herbivore
interactions in Mesoamerican tropical dry forests. In
S. Bullock, H.A. Mooney, and I.E. Medina (eds),Tropi-
cal Dry Forests. Cambridge University Press, NewYork,
pp. 304–323.
Dirzo, R. and Mota, L.M. (1997)Omphalea oleifera.In
E. Gonzalez-Soriano, R. Dirzo, and R.C. Vogt (eds),