Research group Group Tack

Interactions between plants, microbes and insects.

Our lab revolves around the ecology and evolution of between plants, microbes and insects. For this, we have worked extensively on the spatial and temporal dynamics of the insect and pathogen community on the oak tree Quercus robur and the below- and aboveground food web surrounding Sweden’s perennial herbs, such as the beautiful fungi on the wood anemone, the ribwort plantain and the bird's eye primrose. Outside of Sweden, a key interest is on the relationship between climate, insects, and diseases on semi-wild coffee in SW Ethiopia, and the consequences for farmers’ livelihoods and biodiversity. In the Insect Biome Atlas project, we examine the diversity, distribution and function of the insect community across Sweden and Madagascar. Overall, we are broadly interested how ecological and evolutionary interactions between plants, insects and microbes play out in a spatial setting.

For more information & publications:
•    Personal webpage
•    Outreach
•    Teaching
•    List of publications (including PDFs)
•    Google Scholar profile

Group members

Group managers

Ayco Tack

Professor

Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences

ayco.tack@su.se

See profile page for Ayco Tack

Members

Lisse Goris

PhD student

Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences

lisse.goris@su.se

See profile page for Lisse Goris

Maria Prager

Forskningsingenjör

Department of Ecology, Environment and Plant Sciences

maria.prager@su.se

See profile page for Maria Prager

Research projects

Ongoing

Completed

A multitrophic microbial and insect food web on oak

Belowground beneficial and antagonistic microbes on perennial herbs

Plants are host to a wealth of microbes, both beneficial and antagonistic, and these may be found both on aboveground plant structures and in the roots.

Community dynamics of systemic diseases on the wood anemone

I am fascinated by the spatial and eco-evolutionary dynamics of host-parasite interactions. We do lack some generality though: many of the existing studies have (for good reasons!) focused on single pathogen species, and on non-systemic diseases with high extinction-colonization rates.

The Insect Biome Atlas

A large-scale insect collection project taking place in Sweden and Madagascar. The main aim of the project is to describe in detail the insect faunas of these two biologically and geologically very different countries.

The relationship between climate, biodiversity, coffee diseases and yield