PhytOakmeter: Elucidating the links between environmental variation, plant phenology and plant-herbivore interactions

Plant-herbivore interactions are important drivers of community dynamics and ecosystem processes. Interactions between plants and insect herbivores are largely mediated by phytochemical traits. Therefore, factors that substantially alter phytochemistry can have far-reaching consequences at the ecosystem level. However, only little is known about how the interaction between plant phenology, defense chemistry and the trade-offs between growth and chemical defenses are modulated by environmental variation and stress. The overarching goal of the proposed project is to determine how rhythmic growth patterns, herbivory, drought, and climatic gradients individually and in interaction affect oak chemistry and oak-herbivore interactions. To this end, we are using the oak clone DF159, which allows us to control for developmental and genotype variability. This is a subproject of the proposal for the DFG-Research Group RU5571 PhytOakmeter.

More information can be found here: https://www.uni-marburg.de/en/fb17/phytoakmeter