GELIFES Seminars - Stefan Dötterl

Stefan Dötterl (University of Salzburg, Austria)

Flower scent as pollinator attractant

Basic, applied and climate change research

Most flowering plants are pollinated by animals that use visual (e.g. color, shape) and olfactory (scent) cues to find and locate rewarding flowers. In most plant species, however, neither the relative importance of visual and olfactory cues in pollinator attraction is known, nor are the specific attractants (e.g. scent compounds) identified. This limits our understanding of the ecology and the evolution of communication systems between plants and their pollinators. In this talk, I will present data on the (chemical) communication between mutualistic as well as deceptive plants species and their pollinators, on effects of increased temperatures and drought on pollinator attraction of crop plants, and on the use of floral scents to fight against pest insects.

Biosketch:
Stefan Dötterl is Professor for Plant Ecology at the University of Salzburg in Austria. His main expertise is in the field of chemical ecology of pollination. Using chemical-analytical, electrophysiological as well as behavioural experimental techniques, he studied the chemical communication between flowering plant species and their pollinators throughout the world.