植物多様性が生態系における化学的コミュニケーションを形成(Plant diversity shapes chemical communication in ecosystems)

2026-01-16 マックス・プランク研究所

Odor collection at community level on the Jena Experiment’s test plots. A “push-pull system” was used to collect the odors. One pump blew clean air in, and a second pump captured the plant odors through a special filter.© Sybille Unsicker, Kiel University

<関連情報>

• https://www.mpg.de/26012744/plant-diversity-shapes-chemical-communication-in-ecosystems
• https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2518326123

植物の多様性は、種レベルと群集レベルでさまざまな影響を及ぼしながら、植物の揮発性物質の放出に影響を与えます Plant diversity influences plant volatile emission with varying effects at the species and community levels

Pamela Medina-van Berkum, Cynthia Albracht, Maximilian Bröcher, +12 , and Sybille B. Unsicker
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences  Published:January 15, 2026
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2518326123

Significance

Plant volatiles are key info-chemicals mediating plant–environment interactions, but their role in biodiversity–ecosystem functioning relationships remains unknown. Using an experimental grassland, we studied how plant diversity affects volatile release at both the community level and the species level. We demonstrate that with increasing plant diversity, the amount and diversity of volatiles released by the community increase. While volatile profiles of the focal species Plantago lanceolata did not directly respond to plant diversity, they were indirectly influenced by the surrounding community emissions. Our findings show that plant diversity shapes community-level volatile emissions and, in turn, alters the release of volatiles from individual plants, revealing a route through which biodiversity can affect ecosystem functioning.

Abstract

Studies have investigated the interactions between plants through competition and resource sharing to understand the mechanisms behind the positive effects of plant diversity on productivity. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are important info-chemicals in plant–plant interactions, but they have so far rarely been considered in this context. Here, we measured VOC emissions at the community scale and for one species (Plantago lanceolata) in experimental plant communities of varying diversity (The Jena Experiment) to understand the role of VOCs in driving biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships. We show that plant diversity determines the release of plant VOCs at both scales. At the community level, plant species richness directly enhanced VOC emission and increased VOC richness both directly and indirectly by altering leaf area index. At the species level, plant diversity did not directly affect the VOC emissions of P. lanceolata but indirectly affected it by influencing the VOC emissions from the surrounding community. P. lanceolata individuals in communities with high concentrations of green leaf volatiles decreased their VOC emission, while those in communities with high concentrations of terpenoids increased their VOC diversity. Our results provide evidence that plant diversity shapes community-level plant VOC emission and thus influences focal plant VOC emission inside the community.