title: Consequences of herbivory in the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp tortuosa): importance of the functional organization of the tree.
abstract: Three types of experiments indicate that the functional organization of the mountain birch may influence the ways in which the tree responds to simulated or natural herbivory. The first experiment showed that herbivory to both short and long shoot leaves affects plant development but, because growth largely proceeds by resources of the previous year, is manifested only in the year following the damage. The second experiment showed that even partial damage to a single long shoot leaf caused the axillary bud of that leaf to produce a shorter shoot the next year. Therefore, the value of a leaf depends also on the organ which it is subtending. In the third experiment we manipulated the apical dominance of shoots in ramets and caused improvement to leaf quality in extant shoots. Ramets within a tree responded individually, probably mediated by disturbance of the hormonal control because removal of apical buds elicited the response although removal of the same number of basal buds did not. Induced amelioration is a different response to induced resistance. The two responses are triggered by different cues and may occur in the same plant. By altering hormonal balance of shoots it is potentially possible for herbivores to induce amelioration of food quality. The ways in which herbivory is simulated may explain variability of results obtained when herbivory-induced responses in plants have been studied.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ecological Zoology, Department of Biology and Kevo Subarctic Research Station, University of Turku, SF-20500, Turku, 50, Finland.
authors.forename: Erkki
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Haukioja
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ecological Zoology, Department of Biology and Kevo Subarctic Research Station, University of Turku, SF-20500, Turku, 50, Finland.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ruohomäki
authors.affiliation: Zoological Institute, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Josef
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Senn
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ecological Zoology, Department of Biology and Kevo Subarctic Research Station, University of Turku, SF-20500, Turku, 50, Finland.
authors.forename: Janne
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Suomela
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Ecological Zoology, Department of Biology and Kevo Subarctic Research Station, University of Turku, SF-20500, Turku, 50, Finland.
authors.forename: Mari
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Walls
keywords: Apical dominance; Epirrita autumnata; Induced amelioration; Induced defence; Modularity