Interactions between plants, herbivores and omnivorous predators in native CA systems

Omnivorous insects are widespread in natural and agricultural systems. Plant traits (e.g. inducible responses) expressed by hostplants and elicited by consumers can mediate omnivore foraging behavior (the extent to which omnivores forage for prey versus plant resources). In co-evolved systems with strong ecological interactions between plant, herbivore and omnivore, the outcome of this variation in foraging behavior should have fitness impacts on all players. Here I develop some potential model systems to explore plant-herbivore-omnivore interactions in native CA systems, and present exploratory findings focused on addressing the following questions: (i) Do plant traits support omnivore performance, and does this vary with risk of herbivory?, and (ii) Do omnivores elicit plant traits that support herbivore colonization and growth? Addressing these questions in natural systems with co-evolutionary histories will allow results to be interpreted into an adaptive framework that is not possible when using agricultural systems.