Seminar: Virpi Virjamo

The ecological significance of the changes in plant secondary chemistry induced by climate change

Various climate change factors induce changes in plant physiology, often including changes in the defensive secondary chemistry of the plants. These changes are clearly statistically significant but small in absolute amounts, leading to the question of whether they influence ecological interactions. Considering that each compound has different bioactivity, different timing in accumulation, and different ecological role, the ecological significance of detected increase or decrease can vary from compound to compound. Here I use warming induced changes in forest trees tannin levels as an example to reveal the ecological significance of these slight changes in herbivore and pathogen defence and how these changes in plant chemistry could have cascading effects on soil interactions.