When deciding whether or not to eat a plant, herbivores are influenced by the nutritional value of potential foods, but also indirectly by neighbouring plants (associational effects). We aimed to investigate how the abundance and nutritional quality of neighbours of balsam firs (Abies balsamea) affects browsing on balsam firs by white‐tailed deer. We sought to distinguish the effects of conspecific and heterospecific neighbour abundance, and to evaluate whether intraspecific variation in nutritional traits produces associational effects.

中文翻译：

---

邻近植物营养性状的种内变异产生连续的缔合效应

在决定是否吃植物时，草食动物受潜在食物的营养价值影响，但也受邻近植物的间接影响（相关影响）。我们旨在调查香脂冷杉（Abies balsamea）的邻居的丰富度和营养品质如何影响白尾鹿在香脂冷杉上的浏览。我们试图区分同种和异种邻居的丰度的影响，并评估营养性状的种内变异是否产生关联效应。