Herbivory-Induced Plant Volatiles Mediate Multitrophic Relationships in Ecosystems

Abstract

Abstract Herbivory-induced plant volatiles (HIPVs) are involved in biotic interactions among plants as well as herbivorous and carnivorous arthropods. This review looks at the specificity in plant–carnivore communication mediated by specific blends of HIPVs as well as describes plant–herbivore and plant–plant communication mediated by specific HIPVs. Factors affecting the net benefits of HIPV production have also been examined. These specific means of communication results in high complexity in the ‘interaction–information network’, which should be explored further to elucidate the mechanism underlying the numerous species coexisting in ecosystems.