NUTRITIONAL QUALITY AS A DEFENSE AGAINST HERBIVORES



: HAUKIOJA E, RUOHOMAKI K, SUOMELA J, VUORISALO T

Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

: 1991

: Forest Ecology and Management

: FOREST ECOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT

: FOREST ECOL MANAG

: 39

: 1-4

: 237

: 245

: 9

: 0378-1127

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-1127(91)90179-Y


The generally low nutritional quality of plants may result from its being a defense against herbivores, an adaptation to abiotic factors, or an incidental by-product. To demonstrate the defensive nature, we should be able to show that there is variation, fitness differences and a hereditary basis. We demonstrate that, in the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. tortuosa), the low nutritional quality is a potential active defense against herbivorous insects, especially if it correlates with repellency caused by allelochemicals. However, it is almost impossible to show this conclusively.



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