title: Dynamic Plant-Plant-Herbivore Interactions Govern Plant Growth-Defence Integration.
abstract: Plants downregulate their defences against insect herbivores upon impending competition for light. This has long been considered a resource trade-off, but recent advances in plant physiology and ecology suggest this mechanism is more complex. Here we propose that to understand why plants regulate and balance growth and defence, the complex dynamics in plant-plant competition and plant-herbivore interactions needs to be considered. Induced growth-defence responses affect plant competition and herbivore colonisation in space and time, which has consequences for the adaptive value of these responses. Assessing these complex interactions strongly benefits from advanced modelling tools that can model multitrophic interactions in space and time. Such an exercise will allow a critical re-evaluation why and how plants integrate defence and competition for light.
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen, The Netherlands; Wageningen University, Centre for Crop System Analysis, Wageningen, The Netherlands. Electronic address: jorad.devries@wur.nl.
authors.forename: Jorad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: de Vries
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Centre for Crop System Analysis, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jochem B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Evers
authors.affiliation: Wageningen University, Laboratory of Entomology, Wageningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Erik H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Poelman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D060434:Herbivory / Q000502:physiology*; D006790:Host-Parasite Interactions; D063245:Plant Development / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D018521:Plant Physiological Phenomena; D010944:Plants / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000469:parasitology*
keywords: competition; dynamic interactions; functional–structural plant modelling; growth–defence trade off; herbivory; red far-red ratio