There is increasing evidence that geographic and climatic clines drive the patterns of plant defence allocation and defensive strategies. We quantified early growth rate and both constitutive and inducible chemical defences of 18 Pinaceae species in a common greenhouse environment and assessed their defensive allocation with respect to each species' range across climatic gradients spanning 31° latitude and 2300 m elevation. Constitutive defences traded-off with induced defences, and these defensive strategies were associated with growth rate such that slow-growing species invested more in constitutive defence, whereas fast-growing species invested more in inducible defence. The position of each pine species along this trade-off axis was in turn associated with geography; moving poleward and to higher elevations, growth rate and inducible defences decreased, while constitutive defence increased. These geographic patterns in plant defence were most strongly associated with variation in temperature. Climatic and geographical clines thus act as drivers of defence profiles by mediating the constraints imposed by trade-offs, and this dynamic underlays global patterns of defence allocation.

中文翻译：

---

本构防御与诱导防御之间的权衡驱动了松树化学防御中的地理和气候变化。

越来越多的证据表明地理和气候因素驱动着植物防御分配和防御策略的模式。我们量化了常见温室环境中18种松科植物的早期生长率以及组成性和诱导性化学防御，并评估了它们在跨纬度31°和海拔2300 m的气候梯度范围内对每种物种的防御分配。本构防御与诱导防御权衡，这些防御策略与增长率相关，以至于生长缓慢的物种在本构防御上投入更多，而生长快速的物种在诱导防御上投入更多。每个松树物种在此折衷轴上的位置又与地理位置有关；向极点移动并移至更高的高度，生长速率和诱导防御能力下降，而本构防御能力增加。植物防御中的这些地理模式与温度变化密切相关。因此，气候和地理因素通过折衷权衡所施加的限制而成为国防概况的驱动力，而这种动态则奠定了全球国防分配模式的基础。