Intraspecific variation in nutritional traits of neighbouring plants generates a continuum of associational effects

Aims 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,...