Herbivore-induced plant volatiles in natural and agricultural ecosystems: open questions and future prospects

• Published in: Current opinion in insect science 2015-06, Vol.9, p.1-6
• Main Authors: Gish, Moshe, De Moraes, Consuelo M, Mescher, Mark C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2214-5745; 2214-5745
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2015.04.001

•Herbivore-induced plant volatiles provide information-rich cues for other organisms.•Key evolutionary and ecological questions about these interactions remain unanswered.•These questions are relevant to the sustainable management of agricultural systems.•Improved knowledge is needed to understand and anticipate impacts of global change. Herbivore-induced plant volatiles (HIPV) have been shown to convey ecologically relevant information to other organisms, including carnivorous and herbivorous arthropods and neighboring plants. However, many questions about the evolutionary and ecological functions of HIPV remain unanswered. In particular, a current lack of information about the ways in which environmental factors—including habitat structure and atmospheric conditions—influence HIPV mediated interactions in real-world settings limits our ability to anticipate the ways in which HIPV-mediated ecological interactions may be altered or disrupted by anthropogenic environmental change, including atmospheric pollution and climate change. Understanding these influences thus has significant implications for the sustainable management of natural and agricultural ecosystems and should be a priority for future research.