What traits predict patterns of relative abundance?
A test in old-field plant communities both with and without herbivores. Baumert, Anthony*,1, Carson, Walter1, 1 University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA ABSTRACT- Resource competition theory predicts that the dominant species within a community is the species capable of reducing the level of a shared limiting resource below the level needed by other species to persist. Furthermore, herbivores will influence the outcome of competition only if they impact the ability of a plant species to acquire, use, or reduce the limiting resource. Consequently, if plant traits predict the competitive ability of a species in terms of resource reduction, herbivores must alter these traits in order to shift competitive hierarchies. Suprisingly, this long-standing view has remained relatively unexplored. Using a long-term design, we tested these predictions using ten common plant species in a light-limited old field dominated by Goldenrods (Solidago spp.). We measured the ability of each species to
