Coevolutionary models suggest that herbivores drive diversification and community composition in plants. For herbivores, many questions remain regarding how plant defenses shape host choice and community structure. We addressed these questions using the tree genus Inga and its lepidopteran herbivores in the Amazon. We constructed phylogenies for both plants and insects and quantified host assoc...

Plants can defend themselves against herbivores by attracting natural enemies of the herbivores. The cues for attraction are often complex mixtures of herbivore-induced plant volatiles, making it difficult to demonstrate the role of specific compounds. After herbivory by lepidopteran larvae, maize releases a mixture of volatiles that is highly attractive to females of various parasitic wasp spe...

Although it has been suggested that induced and constitutive plant resistance should have different effects on insect herbivore population dynamics, there is little experimental evidence that plant resistance can influence herbivore populations longer than one season. We used a density-manipulation experiment and model fitting to examine the effects of constitutive and induced resistance on her...

Clonal plant networks consist of interconnected individuals (ramets) of different sizes and ages. They represent heterogeneous ramet assemblages with marked differences in quality and attractiveness for herbivores. Here, feeding preferences of a generalist herbivore (Spodoptera exigua) for differently-aged ramets of Trifolium repens were studied, and changes in herbivore preference in response ...

1. While both arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi and plant and insect genotype are well known to influence plant and herbivore growth and performance, information is lacking on how these factors jointly influence the relationship between plants and their natural herbivores. 2. The aim of the present study was to investigate how a natural community of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi affects the grow...

We investigated herbivore suitability, foliar chemistry, and seedling growth of blightsusceptible pure American chestnut,Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh., and a blight-resistant Chinese chestnut, Castanea mollisima Blume American chestnut hybrid, using supplemental fertilizer and ectomycorrhizal inoculation to affect nutrient availability and nutrient uptake, and the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispa...

The hypothesis that constitutive and inducible plant resistance against herbivores should trade-off because they use the same resources and impose costs to plant fitness has been postulated for a long time. Negative correlations between modes of deployment of resistance and defences have been observed across and within species in common garden experiments. It was therefore tested whether that p...

Classic research on elevational gradients in plant–herbivore interactions holds that insect herbivore pressure is stronger under warmer, less seasonal climates characteristic of low elevations, and that this in turn selects for increased defence in low(relative to high-) elevation plants. However, recent work has questioned this paradigm, arguing that it overly simplifies the ecological complex...

The attraction of natural enemies towards herbivore-induced plant volatiles is a well-documented phenomenon. However, the majority of published studies are carried under optimal water and nutrient regimes and with just one herbivore. But what happens when additional levels of ecological complexity are added? Does the presence of a second herbivore, microorganisms, and abiotic stress interfere w...