Chemical Ecology

The combination of the two terms "ecology" and "chemistry" has recently come into being for researchers, biologists and chemists working at the interface of biology and chemistry. Chemical ecology is now a full research field in itself.

Most living species communicate with each other through molecules and chemical signals called mediators. The chemical language, using chemical mediators instead of words, is a universal language in nature, and appears indispensable to the maintenance of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Chemical communication is by far the most used means of communication in the living world. Trying to understand the language of nature, ecologists and chemists are faced with the complexity and creativity of organisms.

This book presents the most advanced and varied aspects of this growing discipline. It provides, compared to other available books which mostly deal with relatively simple systems, dual or tritrophic relationships around a small number of model organisms and chemical mediators, a holistic view of chemical ecology.

Anne-Genevie?ve Bagneres is Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). Her scientific interests are chemical communication and the evolutionary ecology of insects and, more specifically, social insects. She is the leader of a group of more than 250 French researchers (MediatEC) specialized in chemical ecology. She is a long-time member of the ISCE (International Society of Chemical Ecology).

Martine Hossaert-McKey is a senior scientist at CEFE-CNRS, and a Scientific Deputy Director of the CNRS-Institute Ecology Environment. A specialist in chemical ecology, she works on the intricate sets of co-evolved interactions between fig species, their species-specific pollinators, their parasites and seed-dispersers.