XVI International Botanical Congess

I will present an overview of the current knowledge on the effects ofaltered atmospheric composition on plant-herbivore relationships. There will be an emphasis on elevated CO2 and community-level interactions, and on comparison of different experimental systems, plant functional types, and kinds of herbivores (specialists vs. generalists). The results from single-species experiments will be summarized (e.g., increased consumption of plant tissue, reduced herbivore fitness), and compared with community-level experiments, in which generalist herbivores can choose among different plants, and plant-plant interactions are important. Some contradictory findings at both levels will be highlighted (e.g., strong responses at the single species level are considerably buffered at the community level), and their implications for biodiversity and ecosystem structure in the future will be discussed.