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To improve our knowledge regarding plant responses to herbivory we subjected juvenile birches (Betula pubescens) to different types of simulated herbivory, i.e., removal of the top (1 cm) of the main stem or defoliaiton (including removal of main stem top), and to different levels of intraspecific competition (i.e., three stand densities). Treatments were also repeated during the following year. Birch responses to these treatments were measured as changes in plant height and dry mass. Defoliated plants showed reduced growth irrespective of the level of intraspecific competition. Topped plants in the low—density plots showed enhanced growth, i.e., over—compensation, whereas topped plants growth in the high— and medium—density plots were unaffected by the treatments. Our results indicate that we should expect a continuum of plant responses to herbivory. Thus, there is little value in asking whether herbivory …