Insect-Plant Interactions Reading Group (BIO791)


Professor: Dr. Lynn Adler, 413-545-1060, lsadler@ent.umass.edu, 102D Fernald Hall

Time and Place: Varies by semester; email Dr. Adler to inquire

Summary and Expectations: This is a one-credit pass/fail reading and discussion group centered on the very broad topic of insect-plant interactions. For a passing grade, students are expected to attend and actively participate on a regular basis, and to lead at least one discussion. Leaders should arrive with questions to guide discussion.

Potential topics: Students can lead discussion on readings of their choice, or they can use their slot to (a) solicit comments on a manuscript, (b) practice a talk, or (c) present a potential thesis topic or experiment with explicit questions for feedback.

Possible reading topics include evolution of herbivore diet breadth or plant resistance, induced defense, costs of defense, herbivore population growth, multitrophic interactions, insect behavior, community genetics and extended phenotypes, ecosystem processes, theories of coevolution, mutualisms and cheating mutualists, interactions in relation to agricultural, GM, invasive or endangered systems.

Choosing and Distributing readings: Please assign no more than 15 pages of reading per week (except for manuscripts) by selecting 1-2 papers published in the last few years from high-visibility journals such as Science, Nature, PNAS, Am Nat, Ecology, Evolution, Oikos, Oecologia. Two papers with contrasting results or opinions are welcome.