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Updated: Nov 9, 2025

Hydroponics: A Versatile System to Study Nutrient Allocation and Plant Responses to Nutrient Availability and Exposure to Toxic Elements
Published on: July 13, 2016
Plant chemistry and food web health
Klaus Schlaeppi1,2, Josef J Gross3, Siegfried Hapfelmeier4
1Faculty of Science, Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Bern, 3013, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Plants are systemically relevant to our planet not only by constituting a major part of its biomass, but also because they produce a vast diversity of bioactive phytochemicals. These compounds often modulate interactions between plants and the environment, and can have substantial effects on plant consumers and their health. By taking a food web perspective, we highlight the role of bioactive phytochemicals in linking soils, plants, animals and humans and discuss their contributions to systems health. The analysis of connections among food web components revealed an underexplored potential of phytochemicals to optimize food web health and productivity.
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