Biography

My research area within ecology is plant-plant chemical interaction, its ecological and mechanistic aspects, and its application in sustainable pest management. Coexistence with other plants is the most common type of biotic challenge that a plant individually faces. Emission of chemical compounds as a natural consequence of plant life may have profound effects on neighboring plant individuals. For instance volatiles produced by damaged plants have been shown as signals that initiate defensive responses in neighboring plants making them less attractive for herbivores and more attractive for their natural enemies. However chemical interactions between undamaged plants have not previously been considered as an important factor in such ecological communities. Thus the focus of my research interests are the chemically-mediated interactions between undamaged plants and the importance of the indirect mediated effects of plant-plant interaction in plant-herbivore-natural enemy communities.