Effects of plant phenology, nutrients and herbivory on growth and defensive chemistry of plantain, Plantago lanceolata

Abstract

To assess the combined effect of herbivory, nutrient availability and plant phenology on plant mass and defensive chemistry, we conducted a field experiment with plantain (Plantago lanceolata: Plantaginaceae) using three levels of herbivory, three levels of fertilizer and two harvest dates. Shoot mass of the no‐herbivory plants showed a nonlinear response to increased fertilizer such that mass with high fertilizer was no greater than that with low fertilizer. In contrast, shoot mass of the low‐herbivory plants (12% damage) was not influenced by fertilizer, but for high‐herbivory plants (23% damage), there was a positive linear response to increased fertilizer. Increasing nutrient levels caused a decrease in iridoid glycoside concentration. Herbivory did not induce higher iridoid glycoside concentration in leaves of any age. But increasing herbivory resulted in a decrease in the concentration of catalpol in new leaves. Another experiment assessed how leaf age and plant age affected plant defensive chemistry. Total iridoid glycosides increased over 5 weeks, but catalpol only increased in new leaves. Overall, the order of importance in determining variation in iridoid glycoside concentration was plant phenology, nutrient availability and, to a much lesser extent, herbivory.