The evolutionary ecology of tolerance to consumer damage

Recent theoretical studies suggest that the ability to tolerate consumer da mage can be an important adaptive response by plants to selection imposed b y consumers. Empirical studies have also found that tolerance is a common r esponse to consumers among plants. Currently recognized mechanisms underlyi ng tolerance include several general sets of traits: allocation patterns; p lant architecture; and various other traits that may respond to consumer da mage, e.g., photosynthetic rate. Theoretical studies suggest that tolerance to consumer damage may be favored under a range of conditions, even when t he risk and intensity of damage varies. However, most of these models assum e that the evolution of tolerance is constrained by internal resource alloc ation trade-offs. While there is some empirical evidence for such trade-off s, it is also clear that external constraints such as pollinator abundance or nutrient availability may also limit the evolution of tolerance. Current research also suggests that a full understanding of plant adaptation to co nsumers can only be achieved by investigating the joint evolution of tolera nce and resistance. While tolerance to consumer damage has just recently re ceived significant attention in the ecological literature, our understandin g of it is rapidly increasing as its profound ecological and evolutionary i mplications become better appreciated.