BIO330H5 Study Guide - Final Guide: Toxicodendron Radicans, Urushiol, Herbivore
Document Summary
Tannins can have toxic effects as can other phenolics. Urushiol (poison ivy: binds to skin, denatures proteins, reject your own skin. Alkaloids directly kill herbivores, attack some vital part of metabolism often the nervous system. Very small amounts can be extremely lethal. If insects encounter alkaloids often enough, they can specialize to attack the plants and detoxify the alkaloids. They"re very small, simple structures so if you break off one ring or one branch, they don"t function anymore. Depends on whether your leaves live long or not. Slow growing plants should invest more in defense. If you"re slow growing, there"s a huge cost when a leaf is eaten by herbivore because you just lost a lot of time and it"ll take long to grow it back. Also, you"re growing slow anyways so you should invest in chemical defenses. Fast growing plants grow too fast to allocate resources/energy towards chemical defenses.
