Editing Piper (plant) (section)

==Distribution and ecology==
''Piper'' species have a [[tropical|pantropical]] distribution, and are most commonly found in the understory of lowland [[tropical forest]]s, but can also occur in clearings and in higher elevation life zones such as [[cloud forest]]s; one species &ndash; the Japanese Pepper (''[[Piper kadsura|P. kadsura]]'') from southern [[Japan]] and southernmost [[Korea]] &ndash; is subtropical and can tolerate light winter [[frost]]. Peppers are often dominant species where they are found.

Most ''Piper'' species are either [[herbaceous]] or [[vine]]s; some grow as [[shrub]]s or almost as small [[tree]]s. A few species, commonly called "ant pipers" (e.g. ''[[Piper cenocladum]]''), live in a [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualism]] with [[ant]]s. The fruit of the ''Piper'' plant, called a peppercorn when it is round and pea-sized, as is usual, is distributed in the wild mainly by [[bird]]s, but small fruit-eating [[mammal]]s – e.g. [[bat]]s of the genus ''[[Carollia]]'' – are also important. Despite the high content of chemicals that are noxious to [[herbivore]]s, some have [[evolved]] the ability to withstand the chemical defences of pepper plants, for example the [[Sematurinae|sematurine]] [[moth]] ''[[Homidiana subpicta]]'' or some [[flea beetle]]s of the genus ''[[Lanka (beetle)|Lanka]]''. The latter can be significant [[pest (organism)|pests]] to pepper growers.