| Title: | Information arms race explains plant-herbivore chemical communication in ecological communities |
| Author(s): | Zu P; Boege K; Del-Val E; Schuman MC; Stevenson PC; Zaldivar-Riveron A; Saavedra S; |
| Address: | "Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. pengjuan.zu@gmail.com. Instituto de Ecologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 04510 Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas y Sustentabilidad, Unidad Morelia Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 58190 Morelia, Michoacan, Mexico. Department of Molecular Ecology, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, DE-07745, Germany. Departments of Chemistry and Geography, University of Zurich, CH-8057 Zurich, Switzerland. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AB, UK. Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, Chatham, Kent ME4 4TB, UK. Instituto de Biologia, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, 04510 Ciudad de Mexico, Mexico. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA" |
| ISSN/ISBN: | 1095-9203 (Electronic) 0036-8075 (Linking) |
| Abstract: | "Plants emit an extraordinary diversity of chemicals that provide information about their identity and mediate their interactions with insects. However, most studies of this have focused on a few model species in controlled environments, limiting our capacity to understand plant-insect chemical communication in ecological communities. Here, by integrating information theory with ecological and evolutionary theories, we show that a stable information structure of plant volatile organic compounds (VOCs) can emerge from a conflicting information process between plants and herbivores. We corroborate this information 'arms race' theory with field data recording plant-VOC associations and plant-herbivore interactions in a tropical dry forest. We reveal that plant VOC redundancy and herbivore specialization can be explained by a conflicting information transfer. Information-based communication approaches can increase our understanding of species interactions across trophic levels" |
| Keywords: | Animals *Biota *Food Chain *Herbivory Insecta/chemistry/*physiology Plants/chemistry/*parasitology Volatile Organic Compounds/*chemistry; |
| Notes: | "MedlineZu, Pengjuan Boege, Karina Del-Val, Ek Schuman, Meredith C Stevenson, Philip C Zaldivar-Riveron, Alejandro Saavedra, Serguei eng SNSF_/Swiss National Science Foundation/Switzerland Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't 2020/06/20 Science. 2020 Jun 19; 368(6497):1377-1381. doi: 10.1126/science.aba2965" |
