The equal effectiveness of different defensive strategies

Plants have evolved a variety of defensive strategies to resist herbivory, but at the interspecific level, the relative effectiveness of these strategies has been poorly evaluated. In this study, we compared the level of herbivory between species that depend on ants as indirect defenders and species that rely primarily on their own direct defenses. Using a dataset of 871 species and 1,405 data points, we found that in general, ant-associated species had levels of herbivory equal to those of species that are unattractive to ants; the pattern was unaffected by plant life form, climate and phylogenetic relationships between species. Interestingly, species that offer both food and nesting spaces for ants suffered significantly lower herbivory compared to species that offer either food or nesting spaces only or no reward for ants. A negative relationship between herbivory and latitude was detected, but the pattern can be changed by ants. These findings suggest that, at the interspecific level, the effectiveness of different defensive strategies may be equal. Considering the effects of herbivory on plant performance and fitness, the equal effectiveness of different defensive strategies may play an important role in the coexistence of various species at the community scale.