About this Research Topic
Environmental factors, especially in the wake of global climate change, are bound to play a critical role in the chemical communication that governs interactions among species. For example, warmer air and water may alter the stability of chemical cues being transmitted by organisms for communication. Changes in soil moisture content due to extended periods of drought or flooding may dramatically change how organisms release and perceive chemical cues belowground as well. Drastic changes in the environment such as the formation of geographical barriers may result in the isolation of populations, leading to the disruption of mating, loss of resources for food, and the alteration of predator-prey interactions. As such, understanding the significance of environmental factors on species interaction through the lens of chemical cues is paramount towards our future efforts of conserving our natural ecosystems and making our agroecosystems sustainable.
For this Research Topic, we encourage submissions that address climate change and its effects on the chemical ecology of plant-arthropod-microbe interactions, omics-driven characterizations of plant responses to environmental change with relevance to biotic interactions, as well as the ecology and evolution of chemical cues in all ecosystems in relation to environmental factors. We welcome original research, reviews, and opinions that broaden our understanding of the effect of environmental change on the chemical ecology of species interaction.
Keywords: chemical cues, plant defense, insect herbivory, changing environment, microbes
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.