| There is evidence that some climbing plants increase their twining rate after leaf damage, thus avoiding ground herbivores, and that drought limits this induced response. However, it is unknown whether leaf damage and drought affect the search for support, an ecologically relevant process for climbing plants. We evaluated the combined effect of drought and leaf damage on support searching in the twining vine Ipomoeapupurea (Convolvulaceae). Plants were assigned to a combination of three watering treatments (regular watering, moderate drought, and severe drought) and two damage treatments (control and 50% defoliation). We placed a stake at 15 cm from the stem and recorded the time to successful twining (360° turn). We also measured some plant functional... |
