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    Plant structural traits and their role in anti-herbivore defence

    Access Status
    Fulltext not available
    Authors
    Hanley, Mick
    Lamont, Byron
    Fairbanks, Meredith
    Rafferty, Christine
    Date
    2007
    Type
    Journal Article
    
    Metadata
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    Citation
    Hanley, Mick and Lamont, Byron and Fairbanks, Meredith and Rafferty, Christine. 2007. Plant structural traits and their role in anti-herbivore defence. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics. 8 (4): pp. 157-178.
    Source Title
    Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics
    DOI
    10.1016/j.ppees.2007.01.001
    ISSN
    14338319
    Faculty
    Centre for Ecosystem Diversity and Dynamics
    School of Agriculture and Environment
    Faculty of Science and Engineering
    School
    Department of Environmental Biology
    Remarks

    The link to the journal's home page is: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/701793/description#description

    Copyright © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

    URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/28328
    Collection
    • Curtin Research Publications
    Abstract

    We consider the role that key structural traits, such as spinescence, pubescence, sclerophylly and raphides, play in protecting plants from herbivore attack. Despite the likelihood that many of these morphological characteristics may have evolved as responses to other environmental stimuli, we show that each provides an important defence against herbivore attack in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. We conclude that leaf-mass–area is a robust index of sclerophylly as a surrogate for more rigorous mechanical properties used in herbivory studies. We also examine herbivore counter-adaptations to plant structural defence and illustrate how herbivore attack can induce the deployment of intensified defensive measures. Although there have been few studies detailing how plant defences vary with age, we show that allocation to structural defences is related to plant ontogeny. Age-related changes in the deployment of structural defences plus a paucity of appropriate studies are two reasons why relationships with other plant fitness characteristics may be obscured, although we describe studies where trade-offs between structural defence and plant growth, reproduction, and chemical defences have been demonstrated. We also show how resource availability influences the expression of structural defences and demonstrate how poorly our understanding of plant structural defence fits into contemporary plant defence theory. Finally, we suggest how a better understanding of plant structural defence, particularly within the context of plant defence syndromes, would not only improve our understanding of plant defence theory, but enable us to predict how plant morphological responses to climate change might influence interactions at the individual (plant growth trade-offs), species (competition), and ecosystem (pollination and herbivory) levels.

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