plant defense against herbivory

Plant defense against herbivory or host-plant resistance (HPR) includes a range of adaptations evolved by plants that improve their survival and reproduction by reducing the impact of herbivores. There are four basic strategies plants use to reduce damage by herbivores. One strategy is to escape or avoid herbivores in time or in place, for example by growing in a location where plants are not easily found or accessed by herbivores or by repelling herbivores chemically (also termed non-preference or antixenosis). Another approach is the plant tolerates herbivores, by diverting the herbivore to eat non-essential parts of the plant, or developing an enhanced ability to recover from the damage caused by herbivory. Some plants encourage the presence of natural enemies of herbivores, which in turn protect the plant from herbivores. Finally, plants protect themselves by confrontation; the use of chemical or mechanical defenses, such as toxins that kill herbivores or reduce plant digestibility (also called antibiosis). These defenses can either be constitutive, always present in the plant, or induced, produced in reaction to damage or stress caused by herbivores.
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