22 - Evolution of Exploitation and Defense in Tritrophic Interactions

Summary

Introduction

Why do plants cover the earth and give the world a green appearance? This question is not as trivial as it might seem at first sight. Hairston et al. (1960) hypothesized that herbivores cannot ransack the earth of its green blanket because they are kept low in number by predators. They tacitly ignored the possibility that plants defend themselves directly against a suite of herbivores and together exhibit such great diversity in defense mechanisms that “super” herbivores able to master all plant defenses did not evolve and those that overcome the defenses of some plants are limited by the availability of these plants. Strong et al. (1984) recognized both possibilities in their review on the impact of herbivorous arthropods on plants, but they also favored the view that predators suppress the densities of herbivores, and thereby reduce the threat of plants being eaten.

The two explanatory mechanisms (plant defense versus predator impact), however, may well act in concert. Ever since the seminal review paper by Price et al. (1980) ecologists have become increasingly aware that plant defenses include more than just trickery to reduce the herbivore's capacity for (population) growth. For example, the plant may provide facilities to promote the foraging success of the herbivore's enemies. This form of defense is termed indirect as opposed to direct defense against herbivores.