Theories of plant defense expression are typically based on the concepts of tradeoffs among
traits and of phylogenetic conservatism within clades. Here, I review recent developments in …

Mountain pine beetle (MPB) has recently invaded jack pine forests in western Canada. This
invasion signifies a climate change‐induced range expansion by a native insect. The …

The parasite paradox arises from the dual observations that parasites (broadly construed,
including phytophagous insects) are resource specialists with restricted host ranges, and yet …

Ecological fitting is the process whereby organisms colonize and persist in novel
environments, use novel resources or form novel associations with other species as a result …

Species comparisons are a cornerstone of biology and there is a long tradition of using the
comparative framework to study the ecology and evolution of plant defensive traits. Early …

More than five decades ago, Ehrlich and Raven proposed a revolutionary idea–that the
evolution of novel plant defense could spur adaptive radiation in plants. Despite motivating …

Host plant secondary chemistry can have cascading impacts on host and range expansion
of herbivorous insect populations. We investigated the role of host secondary compounds on …

Host plant specialization across herbivorous insects varies dramatically, but while the
molecular mechanisms of host plant adaptations are increasingly known, we often lack a …

The study of reciprocal adaptation in interacting species has been an active and inspiring
area of evolutionary research for nearly 60 years. Perhaps owing to its great natural history …

Plants may affect the performance of neighboring plants either positively or negatively
through interspecific and intraspecific interactions. Productivity of mixed‐species systems is …