Responses of Cynoglossum officinale L. and Senecio jacobaea L. to various degrees of defoliation.

Effects of various degrees of defoliation on Cynoglossum officinale and Senecio jocobaea were studied under favourable growing conditions. Regrowth was found in both species, but did not overcompensate for defoliation. The physiological mechanisms responsible for regrowth after defoliation were found to relate either to an increase in net assimilation rate or to an increase in relative investment in aboveground parts. The morphological mechanism behind regrowth involved an increase in leaf area ratio. In almost completely defoliated plants, a combination of both mechanisms was found. The time needed to re-establish the same amount of biomass as control plants differed between the species and between levels of defoliation. These differences in recovery time after defoliation are discussed in relation to decrees of herbivory found m natural situations.