Relative contribution of delaying senescence to growth compensation after defoliation

Delaying senescence as a response to tissue losses has been reported in some studies, but there is no information about its influence in growth compensation. We performed a first test of the relative contribution of delaying senescence after defoliation to growth compensation in Dactylis glomerata L. by means of an iterative growth analysis modified to estimate tissue losses to senescent leaves. We show that Dactylis glomerata overcompensated for relative growth rate after defoliation, mainly by slowing down senescence, and to a lesser extent by increasing the newly assimilated mass allocated to leaves.