Interactions among plants, herbivores, and natural enemies are dominated by chemical signals that exert feedback amongst multiple trophic levels. These interactions are mediated by dynamic and sometimes conflicting rate reactions among plant responses, herbivore communication, inter-guild processes, and eavesdropping by predators and parasites. Symbiotic associations play important roles in mediating both plant-herbivore and herbivore-natural enemy interactions. Current investigations include:

• What options do herbivores have for evading predators that exploit cues associated with their feeding and reproduction, while maintaining intraspecific functionality?
• How do microorganisms mediate plant-herbivore and herbivore-enemy interactions?
• How do mites influence bark beetle – fungal- conifer interactions?
• What cues elicit attraction by parasitoids of bark and wood boring beetles?
• How are inducible defenses modified by gene * environment interactions

Collaborators: Joerg Bohlman (UBC), Cameron Currie (UW Bact), Kier Klepzig (USFS), Jo Handelsman (UW-Plant Path), Diana Six (U MT), Phil Kersten (US FS), John Moser (USFS), Richard Hofstetter (UNA)?

Selected Publications and Presentations