300113 SE Multitrophic Interactions (2017W)

This seminar deals with direct and indirect interactions between plants, pathogenic and mutualistic microorganisms, herbivorous insects and mites, and third trophic level natural enemies, true predators and parasitoids. Three is the minimum number of involved trophic levels, or functional groups of organisms, for interactions to be looked at in this seminar, plants are always involved. The spheres looked at are the belowground, the aboveground and the linkages and interactions between those two. Interactions between plants and plant-associated organisms are also at the heart of pest management; thus, possible translation of fundamental multi-trophic interaction research into practical applications is discussed. The modality of the seminar is presentation and discussion of published original studies, review articles and book chapters and own research. Students are required to actively participate in the seminar by discussions and giving a talk on a topically relevant study.