Injury in plants is damage caused by other organisms or by the non-living (abiotic) environment to plants. Animals that commonly cause injury to plants include insects, mites, nematodes, and herbivorous mammals; damage may also be caused by plant pathogens including fungi, bacteria, and viruses. Abiotic factors that can damage plants include heat, freezing, flooding, lightning, ozone gas, and pollutant chemicals.
Plants respond to injury by signalling that damage has occurred, by secreting materials to seal off the damaged area, by producing antimicrobial chemicals, and in woody plants by regrowing over wounds.