All organisms are components of food webs and ecosystems in which they are under natural selection to maximize reproductive success. Reproductive success is related to minimising the interactions with predators/consumers and competitors and maximising interactions with prey/consumables and symbionts.
Information allows organisms to make the right decisions in this arena of eating and being eaten. Communication via chemical substances is one of the dominant forms through which organisms communicate. Examples are, for instance, territory demarcation by mammals ranging in size from a mouse to an elephant, the attraction of a male to mate with a virgin female moth, the attraction of pollinators by flowers, the activation of nitrogen-fixing bacteria by the roots of legumes or the activation of nematodes by root exudates of their host plants.
Chemical communication can be studied at various levels of integration, ranging from the expression of genes involved in biosynthesis of the infochemicals, to the emission mechanisms, to the perception by the receiving organism, to the consequent physiological and behavioral response of the receiver, to the resulting interactions between individuals and the eventual consequences for the community.
This 3-day Spring School addresses the different levels of chemical communication and their interactions emphasising the approaches that combine the different levels. Focus will be on three different groups of interacting organisms: interactions among animals, interactions among plants and interactions between plants and animals.