Plant–animal communication

Abstract

Communication is an essential factor underpinning the interactions between species and the structure of their communities. Plant-animal interactions are particularly diverse due to the complex nature of their mutualistic and antagonistic relationships. However the evolution of communication and the underlying mechanisms responsible remain poorly understood. Plant-Animal Communication is a timely summary of the latest research and ideas on the ecological and evolutionary foundations of communication between plants and animals, including discussions of fundamental concepts such as deception, reliability, and camouflage. It introduces how the sensory world of animals shapes the various modes of communication employed, laying out the basics of vision, scent, acoustic, and gustatory communication. Subsequent chapters discuss how plants communicate in these sensory modes to attract animals to facilitate seed dispersal, pollination, and carnivory, and how they communicate to defend themselves against herbivores. Potential avenues for productive theoretical and empirical research are clearly identified, and suggestions for novel empirical approaches to the study of communication in general are outlined. Readership: This accessible book provides a critical synthesis of the extensive but diverse literature on a wide range of subjects, from sensory ecology to plant physiology, evolution, and the behavioural sciences. It will be of interest and use to professional researchers in the fields of evolution, ecology, botany, zoology, physiology, and animal behaviour, as well as graduate students taking advanced courses in sensory ecology, plant-animal interactions, and evolutionary ecology.