Laboratory of Evolutionary Ecology
VOLF LAB
We have published a paper that shows how phytochemical beta-diversity affects insect specialization! Quantity and specialisation matter: Effects of quantitative and qualitative variation in willow chemistry on resource preference in leaf-chewing insects Phytochemical diversity plays important roles in plant-Insect interactions, but specific roles of its various dimensions are poorly known. We linked phytochemical variation in willow salicylates (Salicaceae-specific metabolites) and flavonoids (widespread metabolites) to a standardised distance-based specialisation index (DSI*) in three orders of leaf-chewing insects: sawfly larvae, beetles, and caterpillars. Our results suggest that β-diversity in plant chemistry has differential effects on insect herbivores depending on their order and chemical β-diversity measurement used. Chrysomela populi - one of the highly specialized herbivores studied in this paper.
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New PublicationsRenoult S.A. , Leong J.V., Mezzomo P., Sebek P., Koutecký P., Kukla J., Nguyen P., Moos M., Pokorny V., Wagner N.D., Frouz J., van Dam N.M., Volf M., (2025) Effects of hybridization on chemical diversity and plant-insect herbivore interactions in Salix alba × fragilis, Journal of Experimental Botany, eraf296, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/eraf296
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