Louise Vet's research
Louise Vet's research deals with the ecology and evolution of multitrophic systems of plants, herbivore insects and their natural enemies.
Research
Being attached to both the NIOO-KNAW and Wageningen University & Research, my present research is conducted in two places: at NIOO in the Department of Multitrophic Interactions and in Wageningen in the Laboratory of Entomology. In both places I collaborate with several excellent and enthusiastic scientists and supervise PhD students. There is fruitful interaction between the groups and collaboration in several research projects.
Ecology is an interdisciplinary science and this is nicely reflected by my own research. Using behavioural, chemical ecological but also neurobiological (and recently genomic) approaches we study the functioning of natural enemies in a multitrophic context. At the NIOO we focus on the role of plant defence in linking above- and belowground multitrophic interactions, and in shaping community structure. In Wageningen we focus on insect behaviour and information processing. We have close collaborations with several international high quality research groups.We investigate the evolution of foraging and life history traits of insects that function in a diverse multitrophic world. Throughout my career I favoured a species comparative approach to answer evolutionary questions and it still pays off. With the behavioural approach we compare the foraging behaviour of parasitoid species. How do they deal with spatial variation of their hosts and host-food plants? The chemical ecological approach is used to study the infochemical use by the foraging insect parasitoids. How, when and why do parasitoids use plant odours to locate their hosts? The neurobiological research line is closely linked to this and investigates information processing (learning and memory) of these plant odours by the parasitoids. Recently we entered the field of genomics to find the genes that are involved in this odour learning of our parasitic wasps.
My research ranges from fundamental to strategic. The fundamental questions relate to understanding the evolution of species traits and species interactions within communities. Understanding the functioning of herbivores and their natural enemies in natural and agro-ecosystems is crucial for the strategic development of sustainable agro ecosystems that are primarily based on the prevention of pests and diseases (life-support function of biodiversity).
Keywords: multitrophic interactions, especially plant-natural enemy interactions, linking above- and belowground multitrophic interactions; herbivore-induced plant volatiles, plant defence, natural enemy foraging behaviour, sensory perception, information processing, neurobiology, phenotypic plasticity, odour learning, genomics, variation in spatial host distribution; parasitoid movement patterns; optimal foraging, aggregation, chemical espionage, competition, niche differentiation, species and strain comparison, effect of vegetational diversity on searching behaviour, odour masking, population dynamics, functional biodiversity.
Publications
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Root herbivore effects on aboveground multitrophic interactions: patterns, processes and mechanisms
Journal of Chemical Ecology (2012), Volume: 38, Issue: 6 - ISSN 0098-0331 - p. 755-767. -
The ‘usurpation hypothesis’ revisited: dying caterpillar repels attack from a hyperparasitoid wasp
Animal Behaviour (2011), Volume: 81, Issue: 6 - ISSN 0003-3472 - p. 1281-1287. -
Temporal dynamics of herbivore-induced responses in Brassica juncea and their effect on generalist and specialist herbivores
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata (2011), Volume: 139, Issue: 3 - ISSN 0013-8703 - p. 215-225. -
Natural variation in learning rate and memory dynamics in parasitoid wasps: opportunities for converging ecology and neuroscience
Proceedings of the Royal Society. B: Biological Sciences (2011), Volume: 278, Issue: 1707 - ISSN 0962-8452 - p. 889-897. -
Relative importance of plant-mediated bottom-up and top-down forces on herbivore abundance on Brassica oleracea
Functional Ecology (2011), Volume: 25, Issue: 5 - ISSN 0269-8463 - p. 1113-1124. -
Natural variation in learning and memory dynamics studied by artificial selection on learning rate in parasitic wasps
Animal Behaviour (2011), Volume: 81, Issue: 1 - ISSN 0003-3472 - p. 325-333. -
Prey-mediated effects of glucosinolates on aphid predators
Ecological Entomology (2011), Volume: 36, Issue: 3 - ISSN 0307-6946 - p. 377-388. -
Behaviour of male and female parasitoids in the field: influence of patch size, host density, and habitat complexity
Ecological Entomology (2010), Volume: 35, Issue: 3 - ISSN 0307-6946 - p. 341-351. -
CREB expression in the brains of two closely related parasitic wasp species that differ in long-term memory formation
Insect Molecular Biology (2010), Volume: 19, Issue: 3 - ISSN 0962-1075 - p. 367-379. -
Herbivore-induced plant responses in Brassica oleracea prevail over effects of constitutive resistance and result in enhanced herbivore attack
Ecological Entomology (2010), Volume: 35, Issue: 2 - ISSN 0307-6946 - p. 240-247.