Hands-On Chemical Ecology: Simple Field and Laboratory Exercises, a premiere collection of practical exercises in chemical ecology, offers tools and strategies for understanding this young science. The exercises included use general principles and follow a simple structure. Topics examined include birds, fish, insects, mammals, and plant chemistry among others. Additionally, exercises require accessible materials, ensuring that each can be easily modified and completed anywhere in the world with locally existing instruments. This text will be of value to undergraduate and graduates students and high school biology teachers.
Insect parasitoids are a fascinating group of animals in many respects. Perhaps the most fascinating point is that these insects, in the course of the evolutionary time, have developed an impressive way to use chemical compounds to dialogue with the different protagonists of their environment (i.e., conspecifics, their hosts and the plants on which their hosts are living). Unravelling the evolutionary meaning of such chemical communication networks can give new insights into the ecology of these insects and especially on how to improve their use for the control of noxious pests in biological control programmes. Chemical Ecology of Insect Parasitoids is a timely publication, with organised chapters to present the most important knowledge and discoveries that have taken place over the last decade, and their potential use in pest control strategy. Specific relevant case studies are presented to enhance the reader's experience. Suited to graduate students and professional researchers and practitioners in pest management, entomology, evolutionary biology, behavioural ecology, and chemical ecology, this book is essential for anyone needing information on this important group of insects.
The book features comparative perspectives on the field of chemical ecology, present and future, offered by scientists from a wide variety of disciplines. The scientists contributing to this book –biologists, ecologists, biochemists, chemists, biostatisticians – are interested in marine, freshwater and terrestrial ecosystems and work on life forms ranging from micro-organisms to mammals, including humans, living in areas from the tropics to polar regions. Here, they cross their analyses of the present state of chemical ecology and its perspectives for the future. Those presented here include complex, multispecies communities and cover a wide range both of organisms and of the types of molecules that mediate the interactions between them. Up to now, no book has presented a solid scientific treatment of a wide range of examples. This book illustrates a diverse panel of the most advanced aspects of this rapidly expanding field.
Chemical Ecology contains a series of lectures presented in the fall of 1968 at State University of New York College of Forestry at Syracuse University. This book is composed of 11 chapters that deal with the salient facts and theories that are encompassed by chemical ecology and the possible application of fundamental research in this area to pressing problems of ecological importance. After briefly describing the distribution pattern of microorganisms in the soil, this book goes on exploring the coordination and regulation of sexual processes between cells and between individuals in lower and higher plants. These topics are followed by discussions on the aspects of the chemical environment; the diverse associations between insects and their host plants; the self-defense mechanisms of plants against insect predation; and the chemical communication systems within animal species. The subsequent chapters examine the chemical defense and ecology in arthropods and fish. The concluding chapters consider the biochemistry of terpenoid and steroid metabolism and the chemical aspects of juvenile and steroidal molting hormone interactions. This book will be of value to chemical ecologists and researchers and biochemists.
Chemical signals among organisms form "a vast communicative interplay, fundamental to the fabric of life," in the words of one expert. Chemical ecology is the the discipline that seeks to understand these interactions-to use biology in the search for new substances of potential benefit to humankind. This book highlights selected research areas of medicinal and agricultural importance. Leading experts review the chemistry of: Insect defense and its applications to pest control. Phyletic dominanceâ€"the survival success of insects. Social regulation, with ant societies as a model of multicomponent signaling systems. Eavesdropping, alarm, and deceitâ€"the array of strategies used by insects to find and lure prey. Reproductionâ€"from the gamete attraction to courtship nd sexual selection. The chemistry of intracellular immunosuppression. Topics also include the appropriation of dietary factors for defense and communication; the use of chemical signals in the marine environment; the role of the olfactory system in chemical analysis; and the interaction of polydnaviruses, endoparasites, and the immune system of the host.
This comprehensive collection of over 300 intriguing investigations-including demonstrations, labs, and other activities-- uses everyday examples to make chemistry concepts easy to understand. It is part of the two-volume PHYSICAL SCIENCE CURRICULUM LIBRARY, which consists of Hands-On Physics Activities With Real-Life Applications and Hands-On Chemistry Activities With Real-Life Applications.
During the past 20 years, marine chemical ecology has emerged as a respected field of study providing a better understanding of the role natural products play in organisms and their environments. Ample data in this book advocates the conservation of marine environments for future drug discovery efforts while sustaining their overall health. Marine chemical ecology has expanded to include research in the areas of predator–prey interactions, marine microbial chemical ecology, and seasonal and geographical distribution of marine natural products.
Experiments in Environmental Chemistry presents experimental activities that provide practical, first hand experience in the observation of chemical processes occurring in the environment. A variety of techniques with applications in governmental laboratories, industry, and research are described. The experiments are divided into five parts: biochemical processes in aquatic systems; toxic substances in the environment; food additives and contaminants; chemical ecology; and field surveys. This book is divided into five sections and begins with a discussion on the transformations of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus, and energy in aquatic systems. Various aspects of environmental chemistry including photosynthesis, respiration, biogeochemical cycling, primary production, plant nutrients, water quality, eutrophication, and wastewater treatment are considered. The next section focuses on a wide assortment of environmental contaminants in terms of their behavior and occurrence in various sectors of the environment. In this section, the reader is introduced to gas chromatography, atomic absorption spectroscopy, thin layer chromotography, column chromatography, and techniques for the measurement of atmospheric contaminants. Food and the occurrence of foreign substances that result from deliberate additions or other processes are also analyzed, along with chemical compounds such as allelochemicals, pheromones, and chemical defense substances. This monograph will be a valuable resource for environmental chemists.
This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the principles, methods and applications of chemical ecology, covering such topics as chemical signalling, predator–prey interactions, host plant selection and chemical defence. The book takes the reader through the historical development of the discipline to current state-of-the-art research, delving into recent findings on the role of chemical ecology in conservation and management and exploring how the field may contribute to future innovations in ecological science. A chapter is dedicated to the techniques that have been used in chemical ecology and some success stories. Chemical Ecology: Insect-Plant Interactions is an important resource for advanced undergraduates and postgraduate researchers as well as practitioners in this interdisciplinary field. The book’s layout aligns with the curriculum of chemical-ecology-related disciplines, progressing from basic fundamental principles to a more advanced level. Those studying and researching in ecology, entomology, plant biology and biochemistry will find it invaluable as well as those practising in areas such as agriculture, forestry and pest management.
Insect Chemical Ecology provides a comprehensive view of how natural selection acts upon interacting organisms and how particular physical and biological properties of chemical compounds act as constraints upon which natural selection may act. Individual chapters raise specific questions as to the nature of these interactions. The first part contains reviews on antagonistic and mutualistic chemical interactions, the `raw materials' of chemical evolution, the economics of offensive and defensive chemicals, and neurobiology. The second part discusses particular problems such as the evolution of resistance, insect pollination, learning, pheromones, sequestration of semiochemicals, the role of microorganisms, sex attractants, the evolution of host races and biotypes, and the role of semiochemicals and the evolution of sociality of insects. The last chapter discusses the role of chemical-based pest management programs in an ecological and evolutionary framework.
