Rev. Écol. (Terre Vie), vol. 64, 2009.

– 135 – Species, site and seasonal variation in leaf-chemistry diversity of woody Mediterranean plants Elena Baraza1,2, José A. Hódar1,3 & Regino Zamora1

Plants are in general a poor-quality food resource, not only because they are low in nutrients and produce secondary defense compounds, but also because the temporal and spatial variability in their chemical characteristics makes them an unpredictable source of nutrients (Hartley & Jones, 1997). This condition highly determines the plant-herbivore interactions, since herbivores have to select how much, what, when and where to eat (Feeny, 1970). The