Volatile plant secondary metabolites in Eremophila glabra and their influence on animal foraging preference

摘要

One response to global climate change effects on Australia is to investigate the use in sustainable farming systems of native plants, which have evolved to cope in their harsh environment (Monjardino 2009). The Enrich~(TM) project has screened many Australian native plants for their potential use as methane reducers in ruminants, as anthelmintics, and as nutrition sources systems (Revell 2010). Eremophila glabra is one plant that shows promise in this regard, but first the foraging animal must want to eat it. This decision is assisted by the animal's assessment of the emitted volatile plant secondary metabolites (PSM) (Provenza 2007).In this paper we investigate the relationship between volatile PSM in leaf material and animal preference for a number of E. glabra accessions.