Leaf pubescence in buttonwood: Community variation in a putative defense against defoliation.

Plants have a variety of putative defenses against defoliation by herbivores, among which are pubescent leaves. Buttonwood (Conocarpus erectus), a Caribbean tree, shows considerable between-individual variation in this trait, and pubescent leaves have less herbivore damage. Surveying 97 island communities, I documented three patterns expected were pubescent individuals more frequent where herbivory is great. (i) Larger islands have a higher percentage of pubescence (larger islands have more herbivores). (ii) Islands nearer to a mainland have a higher percentage of pubescence (nearer islands receive more herbivore immigrants). (iii) Islands having an extremely abundant predator on foliage arthropods, arboreal lizards, have a smaller percentage of pubescence than no-lizard islands. The third effect, though statistically significant, is weak relative to the direct effects of lizards on one category of their prey (spiders) measured in the same system.