Discussion
This study is unique in that it systematically assessed a latitudinal
gradient in community-wide herbivory and further explored the
mechanistic underpinnings of this gradient. Our assessment of
community-wide herbivory provides strong evidence for the latitudinal
herbivory hypothesis. Moreover, our results suggest that the observed
latitudinal variation in community-wide herbivory was primarily driven
by decreasing intraspecific values of leaf herbivory along the
latitudinal gradient (i.e. , intraspecific herbivory variability),
rather than by shifts in plant community composition (i.e. ,
species’ turnover effects). Meanwhile, we found that climate also played
a major role in driving intraspecific herbivory variability, ultimately
affecting latitudinal variation in community-wide herbivory. Together,
these findings highlight the importance of community-wide herbivory in
macroecological research on plant-herbivore interactions.