Understanding the chemodiversity of plants: Quantification, variation and ecological function
Year: 2024
Type: article
Study design: Systematic Review
Abstract: Plants produce a great number of phytochemical compounds mediating a variety of different functions. Recently, phytochemical diversity (chemodiversity), a way which to quantify the complex phenotype formed by sets of phytochemicals, has been suggested to be important for function. However, no study has systematically examined the potential (in)direct functional importance of chemodiversity on a general level, partly due to a lack of an agreement on how to quantify this aspect of the plant phenotype. This paper has four aims: 1) We discuss how chemodiversity (deconstructed into components of richness, evenness and disparity) may quantify different aspects of the phenotype that are ecologically relevant. 2) We systematically review the literature on chemodiversity to examine methodological practices, explore ecological patterns of variability in diversity across different levels of biological organization, and investigate the functional role of this diversity in interactions between plants and other organisms. 3) We provide a framework facilitating decisions on which measure of chemodiversity is best used in different contexts. 4) We outline open questions and avenues for future research in this area. A more thorough understanding of phytochemical diversity will increase our knowledge on the functional role phytochemical compounds, and how they shape ecological interactions between plants and their environment.
Source: Ecological Monographs
DOI: 10.1002/ecm.1635
Authors: Hampus Petrén, Redouan Adam Anaia, Kruthika Sen Aragam, Andrea Bräutigam, Silvia Eckert, Robin Heinen, Ruth Jakobs, Lina Ojeda-Prieto, Moritz Popp, Rohit Sasidharan, Jörg-Peter Schnitzler, Anke Steppuhn, Frans Thon, Sebastian Tschikin, Sybille B. Unsicker, Nicole M. van Dam, Wolfgang W. Weisser, Meike J. Wittmann, Sol Yepes, Dominik Ziaja, Caroline Müller, Robert R. Junker
Institutions: Philipps University of Marburg, German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, University of Hohenheim, Bielefeld University, Technical University of Munich, Helmholtz Munich, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Leibniz Institute of Vegetable and Ornamental Crops, University of Salzburg
Language: English
Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $3,780
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Award: G432820743
OpenAlex ID: W4403405502