In response to herbivory, plants emit specific blends of herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). HIPVs mediate sizable arrays of interactions between plants and arthropods, microorganisms, undamaged neighboring plants or undamaged sites within the plant in various ecosystems. HIPV profiles vary according to the plant and herbivore species, and the developmental stages and conditions of the l...

Altered species interactions are difficult to predict and yet may drive the response of ecological communities to climate change. We show that declining snowpack strengthens the impacts of a generalist herbivore, elk (Cervus elaphus), on a common tree species. Thick snowpack substantially reduces elk visitation to sites; aspen (Populus tremuloides) shoots in these areas experience lower browsin...

This study demonstrates how herbivore grazing and substrate variations influence coral recruitment patterns at the Flower Garden Banks, Gulf of Mexico, for two brooding coral species, Agaricia spp. and Porites spp. Three herbivore treatments, two tile textures and two tile orientations were tested. Herbivore grazing significantly affected coral recruit growth for both species. These data sugges...

Spatially homogeneous (ODE) and reaction-diffusion models for plant-herbivore interactions with toxin-determined functional response are analyzed. The models include two plant species that have different levels of toxicity. The plant species with a higher level of toxicity is assumed to be less preferred by the herbivore and to have a relatively lower intrinsic growth rate than the less toxic p...

To evaluate plant and herbivore responses to nitrogen we conducted a fertilization study at a low and high pollution site in the mixed conifer forests surrounding Los Angeles, California. Contrary to expectations, discriminant function analysis of oak herbivore communities showed significant response to N fertilization when atmospheric deposition was high, but not when atmospheric deposition wa...

Plants have evolved robust mechanisms to perceive and respond to diverse environmental stimuli.  The plant phytohormones jasmonates and salicylates play key roles in activating biotic stress response pathways. Recent findings demonstrate that basal levels of both jasmonates and salicylates in Arabidopsis are under the control of the circadian clock and that clock-controlled jasmonate accumulati...

Insect outbreaks are expected to increase in frequency and intensity with projected changes in global climate through direct effects of climate change on insect populations and through disruption of community interactions. Although there is much concern about mean changes in global climate, the impact of climatic variability itself on species interactions has been little explored. Here, we comp...

Recent evidence points to the plant's being a much more limited resource than previously expected. In addition to the restraints on feeding and population growth imposed by such factors as leaf toughness, the physical environment, plant nutrition, etc., recent work points to the role of feeding-induced chemical changes in the leaves in reducing herbivore 'fitness'. This suggests that population...

Plant diversity is predicted to be positively linked to the diversity of herbivores and predators in a foodweb. Yet, the relationship between plant and animal diversity is explained by a variety of competing hypotheses, with mixed empirical results for each hypothesis. We sampled arthropods for over a decade in an experiment that manipulated the number of grassland plant species. We found that ...

Tomato breeding has been tremendously efficient in increasing fruit quality and quantity but did not focus on improving herbivore resistance. The biosynthetic pathway for the production of 7-epizingiberene in a wild tomato was introduced into a cultivated greenhouse variety with the aim to obtain herbivore resistance. 7-Epizingiberene is a specific sesquiterpene with toxic and repellent propert...