High specialization and limited structural change in plant‐herbivore networks along a successional chronosequence in tropical montane forest

Secondary succession is well‐understood, to the point of being predictable for plant communities, but the successional changes in plant‐herbivore interactions remains poorly explored. This is particularly true for tropical forests, despite the increasing importance of early successional stages in tropical landscapes. Deriving expectations from successional theory, we examine properties of plant‐herbivore interaction networks while accounting for host phylogenetic structure along a succession chronosequence in montane rainforest in Papua New Guinea. We present one of the most comprehensive successional investigations of interaction networks, equating to >40 person years of field sampling, and one of the few focused on montane tropical forests. We use a series of nine 0.2ha forest plots across young secondary, mature secondary and primary montane forest, sampled almost completely for woody plants and larval leaf chewers (Lepidoptera), using forest felling. These networks comprised of 1...