Can Plants Practice Mimicry to Avoid Grazing by Mammalian Herbivores?

Abstract

Mimicry has been suggested as a grazing avoidance mechanism for plants. This study examined the ability of a mammalian herbivore to generalize conditioned flavor aversions (CFAs) to determine if the conditions for plant mimicry exist. Nine sheep (treatment group) were averted to cinnamon on ground rice while an additional 9 sheep (control group) received cinnamon on rice with no negative post-ingestive consequences. When offered a choice between wheat and cinnamon-flavored wheat the control group ingested more (P < 0.05) cinnamon-flavored wheat (45 ± 6%) than did the treatment group (3 ± 1%) in four test periods. This implies that herbivores generalize CFAs and thus non-poisonous plants could mimic the flavor of poisonous plants to avoid grazing