Plant tolerance to herbivory affect plant growth and also tolerance are water, light, carbon dioxide and soil nutrients. Water and light levels are generally assumed to be positively associated with tolerance (Strauss and Agrawal 1999). However, there are exceptions such as evidence of decreased tolerance in "Madia sativa" with increased water availability (Wise and Abrahamson 2007, Gonzales "et al." 2008). Many studies have found CO levels to decrease tolerance in plants (Lau and Tiffin 2009). Increased nutrient levels are also commonly found to be negatively associated with tolerance (Wise and Abrahamson 2007). There are currently three prominent models that predict how resource levels may
Plant to plant communication via mycorrhizal networks have also initiated nutrient transfer by causing the movement of carbon from the roots of the stressed plant to the roots of a conspecific plant over a mycorrhizal network. Thus, nutrients transferred through mychorrhizal networks act as signals and cues to change the behavior of the connected plants. It is hypothesized that fitness is improved by the transfer of infochemicals through common mycorrhizal networks, as these signals and cues can induce responses which can help the receiver survive in its environment. Plants and fungus have evolved heritable genetic traits which influence their interactions with each other, and experiments, such as