Figure 6. Appropriation of ancient Chinese folk mythology to
illustrate integration of the ERH, SDH, and EICA hypotheses with
variation in defense allocation. Sun Wukong, the monkey king
(representing a plant species), possesses inherent strength that is
limited by the
incantation
of the golden hoop (A) - specialist herbivores - which keeps him under
control. However, when Sun Wukong undertakes a pilgrimage to the west
(B) - non-native introduction - the golden hoop is no longer required,
allowing a rapid increase in defense capacity (C) - the golden cudgel he
acquired on his journey - against the now predominant generalist
herbivores. Simultaneously, removing the golden hoop allows a strong and
consistent response to variation in generalist herbivore
pressure, resulting in a positive correlation between herbivore pressure
and allocation to cheaper induced defense (D). This reallocation leads
to greater growth consistent with the Evolution of Increased Competitive
Ability Hypothesis (E).