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Insecticide (Malathion-60) was applied to replicated plots in a calcicolous grassland establishing naturally on a field abandoned from cereal cultivation five years ago. Comparison with matched control plots showed that both the direction and rate of plant succession over a two-year period were influenced by natural levels of insect herbivory. The insecticide had no independent effect on plant growth.
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Brown et al. (1988) studied this question.
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