The evolutionary ecology of floral scent

Magne tells you more about the seminar:

Interactions between plants and phytophagous insects are potentially the most diverse forms of species interaction in nature. Many plants are left in the evolutionary difficult position of having to attract pollinators while at the same time avoiding attacks from herbivores and seed predators. Hence, floral signals are likely subjected to local selection depending on the composition of site-specific plant-insect networks.

Here, I focus on one floral signal – the scent volatiles emitted by many flowers. These are attractive to pollinators and can be targeted by insect antagonists. Whereas the field of chemical ecology has made great headway linking floral chemical characteristics to the physiology and behavior of associated insects, ecological and life-history based studies of floral scent are rare.

I ask to what extent, how and why floral scent signals vary within and among populations, and how this variation links to variation in the local community of mutualist and antagonist insects. Local variation in plant-insect communication could have profound effects on diversification of traits and species in both plants and insects. I present several datasets showing geographic variability in floral scent from species involved in specialized coevolutionary interactions, from species involved in generalized mating systems and species evolving towards increased selfing.