SynthesisOecologia2013
Ontogenetic differences of herbivory on woody and herbaceous plants: a meta-analysis demonstrating unique effects of herbivory on the young and the old, the slow and the fast.
Synthesis in Oecologia, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 26 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
26 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Signaling defenses with color: a meta-analysis of leaf color variation, palatability, and herbivore damage.The New phytologist · 2025Pooled it
- Phenolic Compound Induction in Plant-Microbe and Plant-Insect Interactions: A Meta-Analysis.Frontiers in plant science · 2020Pooled it
- Woody seeds and seedlings are unresponsive to herbivore kairomones.AoB PLANTS · 2026Article
- Biochemical changes in Robinia pseudoacacia leaflets in dependence of leaf mining, plant age and location.BMC plant biology · 2026Article
- Soil phosphorus mediates trade-offs between constitutive and induced defences in young pine trees.Planta · 2025Article
- Intraspecific Responses of Seedlings of ThreeEcology and evolution · 2025Article
- Tolerance to insect herbivory increases with progressing plant development.Plant biology (Stuttgart, Germany) · 2025Article
- Sex-driven neighborhood effects on herbivory in the dioecious Mediterranean palm Chamaerops humilis L.Oecologia · 2023Article
- Trees harbouring ants are better defended than con-generic and sympatric ant-free trees.Die Naturwissenschaften · 2023Article
- Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses in ecology and evolutionary biology: a PRISMA extension.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2021Article
- Metal bioaccumulation alleviates the negative effects of herbivory on plant growth.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Ontogenetic Changes in the Chemical Profiles ofPlants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Intraspecific trait variation in plants: a renewed focus on its role in ecological processes.Annals of botany · 2021Review
- Plant apparency drives leaf herbivory in seedling communities across four subtropical forests.Oecologia · 2021Article
- Top-down factors contribute to differences in insect herbivory between saplings and mature trees in boreal and tropical forests.Oecologia · 2020Article
- The Compensatory Tillering in the Forage GrassFrontiers in plant science · 2020Article
- Development and evolution of age-dependent defenses in ant-acacias.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2019Article
- Effects of Simulated Herbivory on the Vegetative Reproduction and Compensatory Growth ofInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Herbivore and pathogen effects on tree growth are additive, but mediated by tree diversity and plant traits.Ecology and evolution · 2017Article
- Low tolerance to simulated herbivory in Hawaiian seedlings despite induced changes in photosynthesis and biomass allocation.Annals of botany · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The effect of herbivory on plant performance is the subject of a large number of ecological studies, and plant responses to herbivory range from reduced reproduction to overcompensation. Because plant defenses, stored resources, and allocation demands change throughout a plant's lifetime, it can be hypothesized the effects of herbivory also vary with development. The present work extends previous analyses to incorporate hundreds of studies in a new meta-analysis addressing this topic. Herbivores had an overall negative effect on plant growth and reproduction, and, in contrast to a previous meta-analysis, this work shows the timing of herbivory is relevant. Differences in the effects of herbivory between life stages existed for woody plant reproduction and perennial herb growth. In addition, tree and shrub growth was reduced by herbivore damage at early ontogenetic stages, and perennial herb reproduction was limited by adult stage herbivory. These results partially support the continuum of an ontogenetic response model. Finally, consideration of this synthesis in conjunction with other work led to the conclusion that different plant groups optimize their defense investments in unique ways. Slow-growing plants may strongly chemically defend young tissues, supporting the plant-age hypothesis, because early herbivory is detrimental to growth. Faster-growing herbs may invest more in antiherbivore defense when they are older, supporting the growth-differentiation balance hypothesis, because later herbivory limits their reproduction.
Indexed as
Identifiers
23053231What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.