Information arms race explains plant-herbivore chemical communication in ecological communities

Abstract

A plant-herbivore information “arms race” The consumption of plants by herbivores has driven the evolution of many diverse plant defense chemicals to which herbivores have constantly adapted. The transmission of chemical information at the community level is less known but important given the plethora of plant and herbivore species, especially in tropical communities. Zu et al. propose an information “arms race” approach to explain plant-herbivore chemical communication at the community level (see the Perspective by Solé). To test their conceptual framework, they used field data of herbivore-plant interactions and plant–volatile organic compound associations in a tropical dry forest. Their approach provides an understanding of the functioning and persistence of systems where individuals send and receive information in the form of signals to which other individuals react and, in turn, affect the behavior of other participants in these systems. Science , this issue p. 1377 ; see also p. 1315