Plant traits and plant biogeography control the biotic resistance provided by generalist herbivores

Globalization and climate change trigger species invasions and range shifts, which reshuffle communities at an exceptional rate and expose plant migrants to unfamiliar herbivores. Dominant hypotheses to predict plant success are based on evolutionary novelty: either herbivores are maladapted to consume novel plants (enemy release hypothesis), or novel plants are maladapted to deter herbivores (biotic resistance hypothesis). Since novelty can work both ways, it fails to consistently predict when herbivores will consume novel over non-novel plants. Surprisingly, the value of using plant traits to predict herbivore consumption of novel plants remains largely unexplored. We hypothesized that (i) plant traits explain generalist herbivore consumption rates of novel and non-novel plants, and (ii) any effect of novelty will be grounded in consistent trait differences between native and novel plants. Lastly, we expected to find (iii) differences in plant traits and plant consumption rates across...