Deciphering Chemical Language of Plant Communication

This book provides an overview
of the intricacies of plant communication via volatile chemicals. Plants
produce an extraordinarily vast array of chemicals, which provide community
members with detailed information about the producer’s identity, physiology and
phenology. Volatile organic chemicals, either as individual compounds or complex
chemical blends, are a communication medium operating between plants and any
organism able to detect the compounds and respond.  The ecological and
evolutionary origins of particular interactions between plants and the greater
community have been, and will continue to be, strenuously debated. However, it
is clear that chemicals, and particularly volatile chemicals, constitute a
medium akin to a linguistic tool.  As well as possessing a rich chemical
vocabulary, plants are known to detect and respond to chemical cues. 
These cues can originate from neighbouring plants, or other associated
community members. This book begins with chapters on the complexity of chemical
messages, provides a broad perspective on a range of ecological interactions
mediated by volatile chemicals, and extends to cutting edge developments on the
detection of chemicals by plants.