Fredrik Schlyter

Professor
Chemical ecology
V building

+46 40 41 53 03
+46 708 73 53 33
Fax +46 40 46 19 91

fredrik.schlyter@slu.se

Postal address
Dept. of Plant Protection Biology
Box 102
SE-230 53 Alnarp
Sweden

Visiting address Delivery address
Sundsvägen 14 Växtskyddsvägen 3

Education

PhD in Zoology, Lund University. 1985
Ass. Prof. in Animal Ecology, Lund University. 1992
Professor in Chemical Ecology, SLU, Alnarp. 2006

Research projects

My research concerns odour signals in insects and their host and non-host plants. Diverse habitats have higher stability, the "stability-diversity" paradigm. I propose a supplemental mechanism underpinning this ecological paradigm: The "Semiochemical diversity-stability hypothesis" stating that mixed habitats with high biodiversity are more stable due to the abundance of non-host volatiles (NHV). The deficit of semiochemical diversity in monocultures makes it simple for herbivore insects to find suitable host plants by their sensitive antennae. In mixed habitats, however, the NHV will modulate the attraction to pheromones and kairomones. Until now, I have focussed on the NHV present in angiosperm (broad-leaf trees, herbs etc) dominated forest habitats affecting conifer insects, but now find angiosperm specialists as interesting. This work enables the development of safe plant and forest protection methods.

Selected publications

Jactel H, Birgersson G, Andersson S, Schlyter F. 2011. Non-host volatiles mediate associational resistance to the pine processionary moth. Oecologia 166: 703-711

Martel V, Schlyter F, Ignell R, Hansson BS, Anderson P. 2011. Mosquito feeding affects larval behaviour and development in a moth. PLoS ONE 6: e25658

Schiebe C, Blazenec M, Jakus R, Unelius CR, Schlyter F. 2011. Semiochemical diversity diverts bark beetle attacks from Norway spruce edges. J Appl Entomol Publ. on line, 24 March 2011

Andersson M, Larsson MC, Blazenec M, Zhang QH, Jakus R, Schlyter F. 2010. Peripheral modulation of pheromone response by inhibitory host compound in a beetle. J Exp Biol 213: 3332-3339

Zhang QH, Schlyter F. 2010. Inhibition of predator attraction to kairomones by non-host plant volatiles for herbivores: A bypass-trophic signal. PLoS ONE 5: e11063

Ruebenbauer A, Schlyter F, Hansson BS, Löfstedt C, Larsson MC. 2008. Genetic variability and robustness of host odor preference in Drosophila melanogaster. Curr Biol 18: 1438-1443

Page updated: 2011-11-04.

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