No evidence for the simultaneous induction of structural and chemical defences in spiny southern African savanna trees

Abstract It is still not well established whether plant chemical and physical defence traits can be simultaneously induced in savanna trees and how this would affect plant nutritional quality. Here, we use a long‐term mammalian herbivore exclosure experiment in a dystrophic semi‐arid African savanna to test how chemical (condensed tannins [CTs] and total polyphenols [TPs]) and structural (spines and thorns) defences are affected by herbivore exclusion in five common savanna woody species. We also tested whether nutritional quality interacted with either physical or chemical defences after protected trees were reintroduced to herbivores. Trees that remained available to herbivores did not increase CTs and TPs, rather these were found to be higher without mammalian herbivory in some species. In contrast, herbivory resulted in a significant induction of structural defences (i.e. longer and thicker spines) and at the same time, improved nutritional quality (i.e. higher available crude protein and lower C:N ratios) for some species. We found that the plant defence traits of the treatment which previously excluded herbivores were mostly similar to the control, which both differed from the exclosure, suggesting that legacies of herbivore exclusion on plant defence traits are mostly short‐lived.