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Journal ArticleDOI

Distribution of birch (Betula SPP.), willow (Salix SPP.), and poplar (Populus SPP.) secondary metabolites and their potential role as chemical defense against herbivores.

R T Palo
- 01 Mar 1984 - 
- Vol. 10, Iss: 3, pp 499-520
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TLDR
Isoprenoids and phenolics, major metabolites of important browse species, are reviewed in regard to concentrations, distribution within tissues, and between species.
Abstract
Isoprenoids and phenolics, major metabolites of important browse species, are reviewed in regard to concentrations, distribution within tissues, and between species. Seasonal variation of specific substances and changes with age of the plant are also considered. The distribution of substances may affect food selection and feeding behavior of animals. Wild mammalian herbivores tend to avoid plant parts rich in these substances, in spite of high nutritional content of the plant tissue. Possible mechanisms for defense by plants against depredation by mammalian herbivores are discussed within the framework of the plants' biochemistry.

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Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI

The dilemma of plants: To grow or defend.

TL;DR: A conceptual model of the evolution of plant defense is concluded, in which plant physioligical trade-offs interact with the abiotic environment, competition and herbivory.
Journal ArticleDOI

Responses of Diciduous Trees to Elevated Atmospheric CO2: Productivity, Phytochemistry, and Insect Performance

TL;DR: It is illustrated that tree productivity and chemistry, and the performance of associated insects, will change under CO2 atmospheres predicted for the next century, and relative increases in tree growth rates will be greatest for aspen and least for maple.
Journal ArticleDOI

Diversity of structure and antiherbivore activity in condensed tannins

TL;DR: Results challenge the view that tannins provide an evolutionarily stable plant defense because of their uniform chemical properties, and suggest that the same tannin can have different effects on different herbivores.
Journal ArticleDOI

Genetically based trait in a dominant tree affects ecosystem processes

TL;DR: It is shown that plant genes had strong, immediate effects on ecosystem function via a tight coupling of plant polyphenols to rates of nitrogen cycling through the use of condensed tannin inputs from foliage.
Journal ArticleDOI

Role of Enemy-Free Space and Plant Quality in Host-Plant Selection by Willow Beetles

TL;DR: It is argued that herbivores such as P. vitellinae obtain enemy—free space on hosts from which they sequesters plant—derived allelochemicals for defense through dietary specialization on host—plant species that provide these precursors for defense.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Herbivory in relation to plant nitrogen content

TL;DR: The evidence that N is scarce and perhaps a limiting nutrient for many herbivores, and that in response to this selection pressure, many Herbivores have evolved specific behavioral, morphological, physiological, and other adaptations to cope with and uti­ lize the ambient N levels of their normal haunts is examined.
Book ChapterDOI

Plant apparency and chemical defense

TL;DR: A test of how far understanding of insect ecology has progressed will be the authors' ability to predict how patterns vary from one kind of community to another and how they will change when subjected to natural or human disturbance.

Strategies in herbivory by mammals: the role of

TL;DR: Large herbivores must select food from a wide variety of plant parts, species, and strains, and should prefer to feed on foods that contain small amounts of secondary compounds, and their body size and searching strategies should be adapted to optimize the number of types of foods available.
Journal ArticleDOI

Strategies in Herbivory by Mammals: The Role of Plant Secondary Compounds

TL;DR: In addition, the authors found that the ubiquitous nature of these compounds would make herbivory impossible unless animals had mechanisms for degrading and excreting them, which is not the case for humans.
Journal ArticleDOI

Secondary compounds as protective agents

TL;DR: Insect Chemoreceptors, Insect-deterrent Properties of Secondary Compounds, and the Complexity of Allelopathy.
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