Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Chapter One The integrative roles of plant secondary metabolites in natural systems
- Chapter Two Natural selection for anti-herbivore plant secondary metabolites
- Chapter Three Temporal changes in plant secondary metabolite production
- Chapter Four Mixtures of plant secondary metabolites
- Chapter Five The herbivore’s prescription
- Chapter Six Volatile isoprenoids and abiotic stresses
- Chapter Seven Atmospheric change, plant secondary metabolites and ecological interactions
- Chapter Eight The role of plant secondary metabolites in freshwater macrophyte–herbivore interactions
- Chapter Nine The soil microbial community and plant foliar defences against insects
- Chapter Ten Phytochemicals as mediators of aboveground–belowground interactions in plants
- Chapter Eleven Plant secondary metabolites and the interactions between plants and other organisms
- Chapter Twelve Integrating the effects of PSMs on vertebrate herbivores across spatial and temporal scales
- Chapter Thirteen Plant secondary metabolite polymorphisms and the extended chemical phenotype
- Chapter Fourteen From genes to ecosystems
- Chapter Fifteen Asking the ecosystem if herbivory-inducible plant volatiles (HIPVs) have defensive functions
- Chapter Sixteen Dynamics of plant secondary metabolites and consequences for food chains and community dynamics
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
Chapter Seven - Atmospheric change, plant secondary metabolites and ecological interactions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 August 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Contributors
- Preface
- Chapter One The integrative roles of plant secondary metabolites in natural systems
- Chapter Two Natural selection for anti-herbivore plant secondary metabolites
- Chapter Three Temporal changes in plant secondary metabolite production
- Chapter Four Mixtures of plant secondary metabolites
- Chapter Five The herbivore’s prescription
- Chapter Six Volatile isoprenoids and abiotic stresses
- Chapter Seven Atmospheric change, plant secondary metabolites and ecological interactions
- Chapter Eight The role of plant secondary metabolites in freshwater macrophyte–herbivore interactions
- Chapter Nine The soil microbial community and plant foliar defences against insects
- Chapter Ten Phytochemicals as mediators of aboveground–belowground interactions in plants
- Chapter Eleven Plant secondary metabolites and the interactions between plants and other organisms
- Chapter Twelve Integrating the effects of PSMs on vertebrate herbivores across spatial and temporal scales
- Chapter Thirteen Plant secondary metabolite polymorphisms and the extended chemical phenotype
- Chapter Fourteen From genes to ecosystems
- Chapter Fifteen Asking the ecosystem if herbivory-inducible plant volatiles (HIPVs) have defensive functions
- Chapter Sixteen Dynamics of plant secondary metabolites and consequences for food chains and community dynamics
- Index
- Plate Section
- References
Summary
Introduction
Fifty years ago, when Fraenkel (1959) first placed plant secondary metabolites into an ecological context, the myriad of anthropogenic forces that today influence ecosystem processes at a global scale were poorly recognised, if not altogether unknown. We now know that factors such as atmospheric change, climate warming, invasive species, terrestrial and aquatic eutrophication, and land use are having profound and extensive impacts on the Earth’s ecosystems. Less well appreciated, however, are the central roles played by PSMs in many of those processes.
Plant secondary metabolites respond to global environmental change; perpetuate, via interaction networks, the consequences of global change; and feed back to influence future global change (Lindroth, 2010). For example, the carbon cycle, which strongly influences climate, is itself influenced by the chemical matrices into which plants deposit carbon. Rates of photosynthesis are affected by atmospheric CO2 levels, and subsequent allocation of photosynthates to carbohydrate, cellulose, lignin and tannin pools influences long-term carbon sequestration.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Ecology of Plant Secondary MetabolitesFrom Genes to Global Processes, pp. 120 - 153Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2012
References
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