Word Search

f m e c h a n i c a l a
r x n e c t a v o r e s
u j d n i a s v q q c t
g h h e r b i v o r e s
i b t a t i t n a u q e
v n a l g i v o r e s s
o t i p p f f d s v b n
r t i n d u c e d c l e
e c m e c h a n m q k f
s m l a c i m e h c h e
f o l i v o r e s c n d
f m e c h a n i c a l a
r x n e c t a v o r e s
u j d n i a s v q q c t
g h h e r b i v o r e s
i b t a t i t n a u q e
v n a l g i v o r e s s
o t i p p f f d s v b n
r t i n d u c e d c l e
e c m e c h a n m q k f
s m l a c i m e h c h e
f o l i v o r e s c n d
At the end of the lesson, the students should
be able to:

1.give examples of the different types of

herbivore;
2.identify the different types of defense
mechanism of plants and;
3.perform a role play on how plants defend
themselves against herbivores.
 Types of herbivores
• Algivores
• Frugivores
• Folivores
• Nectavores
• Granivores
• Palynivores
• Xylophages
Algivore
Frugivore
Folivore
Nectavore
Granivore
Palynivore
Xylophages
Three possible reasons that more plant
material is not eaten:
1.Natural enemies- predators and parasites- might
keep herbivores below levels at which they
could make full use of their resources.
2. Herbivores may have evolved mechanisms
of self-regulation to prevent the destruction of
the host plant, perhaps ensuring food for
future generation.

3. The plant is not as helpless as it appears-

the sea of gree is in fact tinted with shades of
noxious chemicals and armed with defensive
spines and tough cuticles.
1.Natural enemies- predators and parasites-
might keep herbivores below levels at which
they could make full use of their resources.
2. Herbivores may have evolved mechanisms of self-
regulation to prevent the destruction of the host plant,
perhaps ensuring food for future generation.
3. The plant is not as helpless as it appears- the sea of
green is in fact tinted with shades of noxious
chemicals and armed with defensive spines and tough
cuticles.
 Plant Defenses

• nicotine (an alkaloid) in tobacco

• morphine and caffeine
• mustard oils
• terpenoids (in peppermint and catnip)
• phenylpropanes (in cinnamon and cloves)

secondary chemicals
Rhoades (1979) has formulated a general
defense theory based on the idea that such
plant compounds are costly to produce:

1.Higher herbivory levels lead to more defenses.

2.Higher cost of defense lead to fewer defenses.
3.More defenses are allocated to the most
valuable tissues.
4.Environmental stress may lessen the availability
of energy for defensive mechanisms.
5.Defense mechanisms are reduced when
enemies are absent and increasedvwhen plants
are attacked.
 Types of Chemical Defenses
1. Quantitative Defenses
Quantitative defenses are substances that
gradually build up inside the herbivore as it eats
and that prevent digestion of food.
Examples are tannins and resins in leaves
example: oaks against externally
feeding caterpillars
 Two main classes of Tannins

Hydrolyzable Tannins
inactivate the digestive enzymes of
herbivores, especially insects.

Condensed Tannins
are attached to the cellulose and fiber-
bound proteins of the cell walls, thereby
defending plants against microbial and
fungal attack.
 Types of Chemical Defenses
2. Qualitative Defenses
Qualitative defenses are, essentially, highly toxic
substances, very small doses of which can kill
herbivores.
Examples include alkaloids and cyanogenic
compounds in leaves.

Atropine, produced by deadly nightshade

(Atropa belladonna) is a most potent poison.
deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna)
 Foxgloves
Foxgloves produce several deadly chemicals, namely
cardiac and steroidal glycosides. Ingestion can
cause nausea, vomiting, hallucinations, convulsions,
 Plant Apparency
Unapparent Plants
• Unapparent plants are weeds, which are
ephemeral and unavailable to herbivores for
long periods.
 Plant Apparency
Apparent Plants
• Apparent plants are long-lived and always
apparent to the herbivores (for example, oak
trees).
 Mechanical defenses

Plant thorns and

spines deter vertebrate
herbivores, if not
invertebrate ones.
Modified leaves on
a cactus
The spines on
cactus plants are
modified leaves
that act as a
mechanical
defense against
predators.
 Failure to attract

Some plants may

stop herbivory by
failing to attract
herbivores.
Mimosa pudica closes its
leaves when they are
touched, making them appear
dead and therefore
unappetizing.

Mimosa pudica
 Reproductive Inhibition
Some plants, for
example firs (Abies
spp.), contain insect
hormone derivatives
that, if digested,
prevent successful
metamorphosis of
insect juveniles into
adults (Slama
1969).
 Masting
The synchronous
production of
progeny, seeds, in
some years satiates
herbivores,
permitting some
seed to survive.
Mutualism

Acacia collinsii

The large thorn-like

stipules of Acacia
collinsii are hollow
and offer shelter for
ants, which in return
protect the plant
against herbivores.
 Induced Defenses

• Plants do not necessarily keep their

tissuses permanently suffused with
defensive and deadly chemicals.
• Chemicals produced only as they are
needed.
• Defense mechanisms are reduced when
enemies are absent and increase when
plants are attacked.
 The field frequency of herbivory
• Herbivores can detoxify many poisons by
four chemical pathways: oxidation, reduction,
hydrolysis and conjugation.
• Long-term suppression of insect herbivores
increases the production and growth of roots
(Cain, Carson, and Root 1991).
• 93 cases of herbivory in terrestrial systems,
an average of 7% was found to be consumed
(Pimentel 1988).
Before After
 Beneficial Herbivory
• Plants are stimulated to re-grow after
damage, they end up oversompensating,
growing even more than they would have
had they not even damage.
• Herbivores are not only influenced by plant
quality; they are affected by host
defences, any of which are genetically
inherited.
In 1/2 sheet of paper, answer the
following:

• 1-3. Give three types of herbivore and

example of each type.
• 4-7. Give 3 types of defensive reactions
and explain each.
• 8-10. In two to three sentences, explain
how plants defend themselves against
herbivores.
 Assignment
• Research about our next topic which is
parasitism.