ArticleOecologia2014
Roles of the volatile terpene, 1,8-cineole, in plant-herbivore interactions: a foraging odor cue as well as a toxin?
Article in Oecologia, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers.
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Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 56 citations in OpenAlex.
- Differences in Olfactory Discrimination, but Not Sensitivity, Between African Savanna and Asian Elephants.Ecology and evolution · 2025Article
- Fine-scale associational effects: Single plant neighbours can alter susceptibility of focal plants to herbivores.PloS one · 2025Article
- Correlating Eucalyptus leaf metabolomics with preference of the bronze bug, Thaumastocoris peregrinus.Journal of chemical ecology · 2023Article
- The deterrent effects of individual monoterpene odours on the dietary decisions of African elephants.Animal cognition · 2023Article
- Volatile Chemical Variation of Essential Oils and Their Correlation with Insects, Phenology, Ontogeny and Microclimate:Plants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- A new conceptual and quantitative approach to exploring and defining potential open-access olfactory information.The New phytologist · 2022Article
- Volatiles and Tannins in Pistacia lentiscus and Their Role in Browsing Behavior of Goats (Capra hircus).Journal of chemical ecology · 2020Article
- Remarkable preservation of terpenoids and record of volatile signalling in plant-animal interactions from Miocene amber.Scientific reports · 2017Article
- Food quality and conspicuousness shape improvements in olfactory discrimination by mice.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2017Article
- Article
- Evolutionary irony: evidence that 'defensive' plant spines act as a proximate cue to attract a mammalian herbivore.Oikos (Copenhagen, Denmark) · 2015Article
- Quantifying the response of free-ranging mammalian herbivores to the interplay between plant defense and nutrient concentrations.Oecologia · 2014Article
- A phantom decoy shifts wild forager decisions in a natural environment.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
- To eat, or not to eat: a phantom decoy affects information-gathering behavior by a free-ranging mammalian herbivore.Behavioral ecology : official journal of the International Society for Behavioral EcologyArticle
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Olfaction is an important sense for many animals, yet its role in foraging by herbivores is poorly known. Many plants contain volatile compounds, such as terpenes, that are not only volatile but can be toxic if ingested. Volatile terpenes can be used by herbivores to assess leaf quality, but there is little evidence for whether they are also used as a searching cue. We applied the giving-up density (GUD) framework to examine fine-scale foraging by two free-ranging mammalian herbivores, the brush-tail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula) and the swamp wallaby (Wallabia bicolor), using patches with food and an inedible matrix that varied in content of a volatile terpene, 1,8-cineole. We tested the effect of (1) increasing dietary cineole concentration, and (2) masking the food odor by adding cineole to the inedible matrix, thus overriding the smell released by the diet. In both species GUD was affected by dietary cineole; a high cineole concentration raised GUD, consistent with its role as a toxin. There was a significant effect of masking on GUD for wallabies but not for possums, suggesting that odor was an important foraging cue at the feeding patch only for the former. Differences in ecological niche and diet may explain this pattern. We suggest that herbivores, such as the swamp wallaby, opportunistically eavesdrop on plant volatiles, i.e., take advantage of the signal proffered for a different function. The cost of this eavesdropping for plants, however, is presumably counteracted by other ecological benefits of these volatiles, including a reduction in leaf consumption as a function of toxicity.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.