Defense System
Kalanchoe beharensis uses a system of defense, not unique to this plant, termed stress-limited defence. This system involves deterring herbivores before a high stress level ensues which causes cracking in the tissue of the plant. High hardness, a structural component of this system is characterized by tissues with high density. Since the tissues of plants employing this defense system have a high density, the defenses, commonly spines, prickles, thorns and hair, must reside on the surface of the plant. Amorphous silica is found in the defense structures with a microhardness of about 5000 MPa, which is higher than the microhardness of insects, and of mammalian enamel with a microhardness of 3500 MPa. Through research, this defense system is shown to decrease the amount of plant matter eaten by vertebrate herbivores by reducing the size of the bite a herbivore takes, the volume of a bite, or the rate at which biting occurs.
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