Herbivory in Relation to Plant Nitrogen Content

TLDR

Nitrogen, a critical element for all organisms, is often a limiting nutrient for herbivores because plants frequently lack usable inorganic N and animals lack organic N, making its availability a relative scarcity that can enhance growth and survival when supplemented. This review examines evidence that nitrogen scarcity limits herbivores and explores how they have evolved behavioral, morphological, and physiological adaptations to cope with ambient nitrogen levels. The review is organized into three divisions, beginning with an analysis of variation in plant nitrogen across seasons, ontogeny, tissues, and species as a basis for herbivore responses.

Abstract

The nitrogen content of a plant is only one of the many plant characteristics that are vitally important to herbivores. However, because of its central role in all metabolic processes as well as in cellular structure and genetic coding, nitrogen is a critical element in the growth of all organisms. Supplementary N often elicits enhanced health, growth, reproduction, and survival in many organisms. This suggests that N is a limiting factor. Since N makes up a large portion of the earth's atmosphere (about 78%), the problem is not an absolute but a relative shortage-that is, a scarcity of usable or metaboliza­ ble N during critical growth periods (159, 328). Plants encounter shortages of inorganic nitrogen (nitrate and/or ammonium ions); animals experience shortages of organic nitrogen (specific proteins and/or amino acids). This article reviews and examines the evidence (a) that N is scarce and perhaps a limiting nutrient for many herbivores, and (b) that in response to this selection pressure, many herbivores have evolved specific behavioral, morphological, physiological, and other adaptations to cope with and uti­ lize the ambient N levels of their normal haunts. McNeill & Southwood (201) and White (328) have also reviewed these general questions. There­ fore, this review explores additional evidence and further develops the fundamental arguments. The review is organized into three major divisions. The first focuses on important sources of variation in plant N (seasonal and ontogenetic trends, different tissues and species, etc) because such variation may be the basis