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Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 11, 2026

Herbivore-induced Blueberry Volatiles and Intra-plant Signaling

Herbivore-induced Blueberry Volatiles and Intra-plant Signaling

Published on: December 18, 2011

Geographic dialects in volatile communication between sagebrush individuals.

Richard Karban¹, William C Wetzel², Kaori Shiojiri³

¹Department of Entomology and Nematology, University of California, Davis, California, 95616, USA.

|November 22, 2016

Summary

Sagebrush plants increase defenses when exposed to volatile cues from damaged neighbors. They respond more strongly to local plant signals than distant ones, indicating a "dialect" in plant communication.

Keywords:

Artemisia tridentata communication dialects eavesdropping herbivory variation

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Last Updated: Mar 11, 2026

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Relating Stomatal Conductance to Leaf Functional Traits

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Published on: October 12, 2015

Area of Science:

Plant communication
Chemical ecology
Plant defense mechanisms

Background:

Plants can detect volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released by neighbors under stress.
This airborne signaling allows plants to preemptively activate defense mechanisms against herbivores.
The effectiveness of this communication may depend on the relatedness or proximity of signaling plants.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate whether sagebrush plants differentiate between local and distant neighbors based on volatile cues.
To determine if plant communication effectiveness is influenced by geographical distance.
To identify specific volatile compounds potentially involved in this localized communication.

Main Methods:

A reciprocal experiment was conducted at two sites using sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata).
Focal plants had branches exposed to air from a control, a distant clipped plant, or a local clipped plant.
Leaf damage on focal plant branches was quantified to measure defense responses.

Main Results:

Branches exposed to control air experienced significantly more leaf damage (50-80%) than those exposed to clipped plant volatiles.
Branches exposed to volatiles from local clipped plants showed 50-65% less leaf damage compared to those exposed to foreign clipped plants.
Specific volatile compounds, including sabinyl compounds and related terpinenes, showed geographical variation between northern and southern sites.

Conclusions:

Sagebrush plants exhibit a stronger defensive response to volatile cues from local neighbors than from distant ones.
Plant volatile communication effectiveness is geographically dependent, suggesting a form of 'dialect' in chemical signaling.
Geographic variation in volatile compounds may underpin the differential response to local versus foreign cues.