2.4.2.3 Other plants
Much more recently, Waterton and Cleland (2016) studied six local and six non-local plant species grown in a common Californian Mediterranean climate where two species of rabbit applied herbivory pressure. In the absence of the herbivores early seasonal commencement of growth (shown by the non-local species) conferred a productivity advantage, but with herbivory delayed commencement was associated with an advantage. Thus, a delay was evidently a defence against herbivory, in a classic trade-off between defences and growth potential (cf Loehle & Namkoong 1987; Strauss et al. 2002).