L. Skovmand

McGill University | McGill · Department of Biology & Redpath Museum

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are produced by plants to overcome environmental challenges, both biotic and abiotic. We were interested in characterizing how autumn seasonality in temperate and subtropical climates affects typical PSM production in comparison to herbivory. Herbivory is commonly measured from spring to summer when plants have hi...

Mammals rely on the metabolic functions of their gut microbiota to meet their energetic needs and digest potentially toxic components in their diet. The gut microbiome plastically responds to shifts in host diet and may buffer variation in energy and nutrient availability. However, it is unclear how seasonal differences in the gut microbiome influe...

The keystone species concept is used in ecology to describe individual species with disproportionately large effects on their communities. We extend this idea to the level of genes with disproportionately large effects on ecological processes. Such ‘keystone genes’ (KGs) would underlie traits involved in species interactions or causing critical bio...