Evolutionary Botany

My research deals with ecological and evolutionary questions in the framework of plant – insect interactions, with a main focus on flowers. In my group we study adaptation of plants to pollinators, herbivores and abiotic factors, functions and evolution of floral signals, and the evolution of reward and deception. We use field experiments as well as experimental evolution in the greenhouse, genomic tools, and methods to study the plant phenotype. Last but not least we use behavioral experiments with pollinator insects and herbivores to study how insect behavior impacts selection on plants.

• Pollination biology
• Chemical communication
• Plant speciation
• Floral mimicry

• Pollinator behaviour and resource limitation maintain honest floral signalling
Knauer, Anina C.; Kokko, Hanna; Schiestl, Florian P.
Functional Ecology 10.1111/1365-2435.13905  NOV 2021

• Combining biotechnology and evolution for understanding the mechanisms of pollinator attraction
Frachon, Lea; Stirling, Shannon A.; Schiestl, Florian P.; Dudareva, Natalia
Current Opinion In Biotechnology 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.06.004  AUG 2021

• Do floral and ecogeographic isolation allow the co-occurrence of two ecotypes of Anacamptis papilionacea (Orchidaceae)?
Cozzolino, Salvatore; Scopece, Giovanni; Lussu, Michele; Cortis, Pierluigi; Schiestl, Florian P.
Ecology And Evolution 10.1002/ece3.7432  AUG 2021

• Generalized olfactory detection of floral volatiles in the highly specialized Greya-Lithophragma nursery pollination system
Schiestl, Florian P.; Wallin, Erika A.; Beck, John J.; Friberg, Magne; Thompson, John N.
Arthropod-plant Interactions  10.1007/s11829-021-09809-5 Published: APR 2021

• Herbivory and pollination impact on the evolution of herbivore-induced plasticity in defense and floral traits
Ramos, Sergio E.; Schiestl, Florian P.
Evolution Letters  DOI: 10.1002/evl3.200  DEC 2020

• Chemical and Functional Complexity in Flower Fragrance
Schiestl, Florian P.
Chimia  DOI: 10.2533/chimia.2020.820  OCT 2020

• Floral signals evolve in a predictable way under artificial and pollinator selection in Brassica rapa
Zu, Pengjuan; Schiestl, Florian P.; Gervasi, Daniel; Li, Xin; Runcie, Daniel; et al.
Bmc Evolutionary Biology  DOI: 10.1186/s12862-020-01692-7  SEP 24 2020

• Floral Odors Can Interfere With the Foraging Behavior of Parasitoids Searching for Hosts
Desurmont, Gaylord A.; von Arx, Martin; Turlings, Ted C. J.; Schiestl, Florian P.
Frontiers In Ecology And Evolution  DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00148 Published: MAY 27 2020

• Evolution of Floral Fragrance Is Compromised by Herbivory
Ramos, Sergio E.; Schiestl, Florian P.
Frontiers In Ecology And Evolution 8 Article Number: 30 DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2020.00030   FEB 19 2020

• Rapid plant evolution driven by the interaction of pollination and herbivory
Ramos, SE; Schiestl, FP
SCIENCE, 364 (6436):193-+; doi: 10.1126/science.aav6962 APR 12 2019

• Emergence of a floral colour polymorphism by pollinator-mediated overdominance
Kellenberger, RT; Byers, KJRP; Francisco, RMD; Staedler, YM; LaFountain, AM; Schonenberger, J; Schiestl, FP; Schluter, PM
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS, 10 10.1038/s41467-018-07936-x JAN 8 2019

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• Molecular Biology (cooperating Ueli Grossniklaus)
• Organic Chemistry
• Plant Ecology
• Plant Evolutionary Biology