Foliage value, apparency and defence investment in birch seedlings and trees

Summary

Two factors determining plant anti-herbivore defence investment fitness loss due to herbivory and the probability of herbivory occurring in the field were quantified for birch seedlings and trees. Fitness loss due to defoliation (assumed to be related to loss of growth increment compared to controls) appeared to be greater in seedlings compared to trees, but the result was equivocal. In contrast, seedling foliage at the field site — a typical habitat for birch — suffered much less natural defoliation than tree foliage, suggesting that seedlings are markedly less apparent to most birch herbivores than trees. This low apparency should result in lower investment in anti-herbivore defences by seedlings compared to trees — and being a strong effect, should outweigh the possibly greater growth loss suffered by seedlings, which in isolation would tend to increase their optimum defence investment compared to trees. This prediction was tested using palatability trials with a wide range of common birch herbivores and by direct quantification of anti-herbivore defences. Problems and assumptions inherent in these approaches are discussed, but it seems that birch seedlings are genuinely unapparent to herbivores, and consequently do not need the degree of defence investment required by trees.