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Thaler, Jennifer S.
Cornell Faculty Member
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Positions
- Associate Professor, Entomology (ENTOM), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
- Associate Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (EEB), College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS)
I study the ecological interactions between plants, herbivores, and carnivores in wild and agricultural Solanaceous plant species. My approach focuses on understanding behavioral and phytochemical mechanisms of such tri-trophic interactions, testing theory on the organization of multi-trophic communities, and generating novel strategies to control insect pests.
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Affiliations
member of
- David R. Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future (ACSF) Faculty Fellow
Research
research overview
- My research has two major goals, both unified by mission of developing a predictive framework for understanding the complex interactions that occur between plant and insect species. Given the ubiquitous nature of insect herbivores on plants, a central goal of modern agriculture is to develop novel methods of pest control. I firmly believe that studies of natural ecological systems, coupled with focused studies of particular agroecosystems, can provide insight into controlling insect pests. Thus, the first major goal of my research is to study the ecological interactions between plants, herbivores, and carnivores in wild Solanaceous plant species. Here my approach focuses on understanding behavioral and phytochemical mechanisms of such tri-trophic interactions, and testing theory on the organization of multi-trophic communities. The second goal of my research program is to work on tomato and related crop species in an agroecological setting, to understand the specific role of factors such as plant defense pathways (jasmonate, salicylate, etc) in mediating interactions between plants, herbivores and pathogens, and predators and parasitoids. By employing modern methods associated with the tomato-model system (genetically modified plants with altered defense signaling, phytochemical analyses, etc) we are gaining insight into the function of plant defense in tri-trophic interactions and working towards utilizing novel strategies to control insect pests.
research activities
other area(s) of concentration/expertise
- Population and community ecology, plant insect interaction, tri-trophic interactions, induced plant responses to herbivory, chemical ecology
keywords
- Population and community ecology
- chemical ecology
- induced plant responses to herbivory
- plant-insect interactions
- tritrophic interactions
submitted impact statement
Publications
individual publications
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academic article
- Compensatory mechanisms for ameliorating the fundamental tradeoff between predator avoidance and foraging.. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 109:12075-12080. 2012
- Effects of natural and artificial pollination on fruit and offspring quality.. Basic and Applied Ecology. 13:524-532. 2012
- Evolution of jasmonate and salicylate signal crosstalk.. Trends in Plant Science. 17:260-270. 2012
- Phytohormone-mediated plant resistance and predation risk act independently on the population growth and wing formation of potato aphids, Macrosiphum euphorbiae.. Arthropod-Plant Interactions. 6:181-186. 2012
- Plant chemistry underlies herbivore-mediated inbreeding depression in nature.. Ecology Letters. 16:252-260. 2012
- Relationships between arthropod richness, evenness, and diversity are altered by complementarity among plant genotypes.. Oecologia. 168:1013-1021. 2012
- A direct comparison of the consequences of plant genotypic and species diversity on communities and ecosystem function. Ecology. 92:915-923. 2011
- Do plant defenses enhance or diminish prey suppression by omnivorous Heteroptera?. Biological Control. 59:53-60. 2011
- Molecular, biochemical, and organismal analyses of tomato plants simultaneously attacked by herbivores from two feeding guilds. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 36:1043-1057. 2010
- Plant resistance attenuates the consumptive and non-consumptive impacts of predators on prey.. Oikos: A Journal of Ecology. 119. 2010
- Response of a generalist herbivore Trichoplusia ni to jasmonate-mediated induced defense in tomato. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 36:490-499. 2010
- Salicylate-mediated interactions between pathogens and herbivores. Ecology. 91:1075-1082. 2010
- Impact of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and natural enemies on Myzus persicae infestations in pepper. Journal of Economic Entomology. 102:2183-2191. 2009
- Heterogeneity of plant phenotypes caused by herbivore-specific induced responses influences the spatial distribution of herbivores.. Ecological Entomology. 33:86-94. 2008
- Relative importance of consumptive and non-consumptive effects of predators on prey and plant damage: the influence of herbivore ontogeny.. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 128:34-40. 2008
- Consequences of sequential attack for resistance to herbivores when plants have specific induced responses. Oikos: A Journal of Ecology. 116:1389-1399. 2007
- Insect predators affect plant resistance via density- and trait- mediated indirect interactions. Ecology Letters. 9:338-346. 2006
- Plant-mediated interactions between arthropod herbivores and plant pathogens. Annual Review of Entomology. 51:663-689. 2006
- Herbivore-induced responses and patch heterogeneity affect abundance of arthropods on plants. Ecological Entomology. 30:156-163. 2005
- Induced plant responses to multiple damagers: differential effects on the performance of an herbivore and its parasitoid. Oceologia. 143:566-577. 2005
- Specificity in induced plant responses shapes patterns of herbivore occurrence on Solanum dulcamara. Ecology. 86:886-896. 2005
- The jasmonate pathway alters herbivore feeding behavior: consequences for plant defenses. Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. 115:125-134. 2005
- Interactions between abscisic-acid-mediated responses and plant resistance to pathogens and insects. Ecology. 85:48-58. 2004
- Plant vascular architecture and within-plant spatial patterns in resource quality following herbivory. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 30:531-543. 2004
- The role of the jasmonate response in plant susceptibility to diverse pathogens with a range of lifestyles. Plant Physiology. 135:530-538. 2004
- Antagonism between jasmonate- and salicylate-mediated induced plant resistance: Effects of concentration and timing of elicitors on defense-related proteins, herbivore, and pathogen performance in tomato. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 28:1143-1171. 2002
- Cross-talk between jasmonate and salicylate plant defense pathways: effects on several plant parasites. Oecologia. 131:227-235. 2002
- Effect of jasmonate-induced responses on the natural enemies of herbivores. Journal of Animal Ecology. 71:141-150. 2002
- Jasmonate deficient tomato mutant has reduced direct and indirect defense. Ecology Letters. 5:764-774. 2002
- Jasmonate-mediated induced plant resistance affects a community of herbivores. Ecological Entomology. 26:312-324. 2001
- Signal interactions in induced resistance to pathogens and insect herbivores. European Journal of Plant Pathology. 107:103-111. 2001
- Jasmonic acid induced resistance in grapes to a root and leaf feeder. Journal of Economic Entomology. 93:840-848. 2000
- Induced plant responses and information content about risk of herbivory. Trends in Ecology and Evolution. 11:443-447. 1999
- Induced resistance in agricultural crops: Effects of jasmonic acid on herbivory and yield in tomato plants. Environmental Entomology. 28:30-37. 1999
- Influence of prey availability and induced host plant resistance on omnivory by western flower thrips. Ecology. 80:518-523. 1999
- Jasmonate-inducible plant defenses cause increased parasitism of herbivores. Nature. 399:686-688. 1999
- Plant phase change and resistance to herbivores. Ecology. 80:510-517. 1999
- Signal interactions in pathogen and insect attack: Expression of lipoxygenase, proteinase inhibitor II, and pathogenesis – related protein P4 in the tomato, Lycopersicon esculentum. Physiological and Molecular Plant Pathology. 54:97-114. 1999
- The influence of prey availability and induced host plant resistance on omnivory by western flower thrips. Ecology. 80:518-523. 1999
- Tradeoffs in plant defense against pathogens and herbivores? A field demonstration using chemical elicitors of induced resistance. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 25:1597-1609. 1999
- A phylogenetic reconstruction of constitutive and induced resistance in Gossypium. American Naturalist. 149:1139-1146. 1997
- Exogenous jasmonates simulate insect wounding in tomato plants (Lycopersicon esculentum) in the laboratory and field. Journal of Chemical Ecology. 22:1767-81. 1996
- Abundance of phytoseiid mites on vitis species: effects of leaf hairs, domatia, prey abundance, and plant phylogeny. Experimental & Applied Acarology. 11:125-136. 1995
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article
-
chapter
- Jasmonic acid mediated interactions between plants, herbivores, parasitoids, and pathogens: A review of field experiments in tomato. Induced Plant Defenses Against Pathogens and Herbivores: Biochemistry, Ecology, and Agriculture. 1999
Teaching
teaching overview
- I teach two undergraduate courses, Insect Ecology and Chemical Ecology. I also lead graduate seminars on a yearly basis. This year I led the graduate seminar for incomng Entomology graduate students and a seminar in Plant-insect Interactions.
teaching activities
- BIOEE-3690: Chemical Ecology - Spring 2013
- BIOEE-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Spring 2013
- BIOEE-9990: Ph.D. Dissertation Research - Spring 2013
- BIONB-3690: Chemical Ecology - Spring 2013
- BIONB-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-3690: Chemical Ecology - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-7070: Individual Study for Graduate Students - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-7090: Teaching Entomology - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-7670: Current Topics in Entomology - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-8900: Master's Level Thesis Research - Spring 2013
- ENTOM-9900: Doctoral Level Thesis Research - Spring 2013
- BIOEE-4550: Insect Ecology - Fall 2012
- BIOEE-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Fall 2012
- BIOEE-9990: Ph.D. Dissertation Research - Fall 2012
- BIONB-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-4550: Insect Ecology - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-7070: Individual Study for Graduate Students - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-7090: Teaching Entomology - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-7670: Current Topics in Entomology - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-8900: Master's Level Thesis Research - Fall 2012
- ENTOM-9900: Doctoral Level Thesis Research - Fall 2012
- BIOEE-3690: Chemical Ecology - Spring 2012
- BIOEE-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Spring 2012
- BIOEE-9990: Ph.D. Dissertation Research - Spring 2012
- BIONB-3690: Chemical Ecology - Spring 2012
- BIONB-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-3690: Chemical Ecology - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-7070: Individual Study for Graduate Students - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-7090: Teaching Entomology - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-7670: Current Topics in Entomology - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-8900: Master's Level Thesis Research - Spring 2012
- ENTOM-9900: Doctoral Level Thesis Research - Spring 2012
- BIOEE-1610: Ecology and the Environment - Fall 2011
- BIOEE-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Fall 2011
- BIOEE-9990: Ph.D. Dissertation Research - Fall 2011
- BIONB-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Fall 2011
- ENTOM-7070: Individual Study for Graduate Students - Fall 2011
- ENTOM-7090: Teaching Entomology - Fall 2011
- ENTOM-7640: Plant-Insect Interactions Seminar - Fall 2011
- ENTOM-7670: Current Topics in Entomology - Fall 2011
- ENTOM-8900: Master's-Level Thesis Research - Fall 2011
- ENTOM-9900: Doctoral-Level Thesis Research - Fall 2011
Service
service to the profession
- Ecology Lunch Seminar Committee, University of Toronto Committee Member 2000 - 2004
- Undergraduate Committee University of Toronto Committee Member 2000 - 2004
- Koffler Scientific Reserve, User’s Committee, University of Toronto Committee Member - 2003
- Plant-Microbe Interactions Search Committee, University of Toronto Committee Member - 2003
- Plant Ecology Search Committee, University of Toronto Committee Member 2001 - 2002
- Koffler Scientific Reserve, Director Search Committee, University of Toronto Committee Member - 2002
- Plant Ecology Search Committee, Scarborough Campus, University of Toronto Committee Member 2000 - 2001
reviewer or editor for
event host
Background
education and training
- Ph.D. in Entomology, University of California Davis 1999
- B.A. in Biology, Wellesley College 1993
awards and honors
Other
college
- CALS
research keyword
- Population and community ecology
- chemical ecology
- induced plant responses to herbivory
- plant-insect interactions
- tritrophic interactions
name prefix
- Dr.