A Continuous Extension of Plant Biotic Interactions Research.

biological functions, defense mechanisms and spatiotemporal regulation of green leaf volatiles (GLVs), volatile compounds consisting of carbon aldehydes, alcohols and their acyl esters, widely distributed across vascular plants. Massive GLV biosynthesis is only enabled after cell damage e.g. by insect herbivory, thereby acting as feeding deterrents, attracting their predators and providing a conspecific alert signal to neighboring plants. The authors further discuss how continuous changes in the composition and quantity of GLVs and their specific, smoke-like spread mode are sensed and utilized as a spatiotemporal cue in shaping continuous interactions with other organisms. Takabayashi (2022) extends this concept to an ecosystem scale by reviewing the role of herbivory-induced plant volatiles in multi-organism interactions, namely plant-herbivore-predator and plant-plant communications. The author further discusses how specificity is achieved through volatile signals among the highly complex information networks present in ecosystems.