Fast growth, low defense -- plants facing a dilemma
Friday, January 28, 2011 - 11:00
in Biology & Nature
Plants are attacked by a multitude of insects and mammals. As defense against these herbivores they developed complex defense mechanisms over the course of evolution: spines, thorns, leaf hairs and a number of toxic chemical substances. For decades it has been controversially discussed whether the production of defense traits incurs costs to the plants.