Prof. Simcha Lev-Yadun

Full Professor

I study many aspects of plant biology: Defensive (anti herbivory) plant coloration, plant development, plant reproduction, the origin of agriculture and domestication of plants. Botanical archaeology. Fiber development and evolution. Arabidopsis as a model for wood and fiber formation. Ecology of woody plants and forests. The impact of human activity on the natural vegetation.

Academic Background

B.Sc. Biology, Tel Aviv University

M.Sc. Botany, Tel Aviv University

M.A. Archaeology, Tel Aviv University

Ph.D. Botany, Tel Aviv University

Selected Publications

Humor in science
Lev-Yadun S. 2008. Publish and lose hair. Journal of Irreproducible Results 50(5):21 (INCLUDING A COVER PICTURE).

Books
Lev-Yadun S. 2016. Defensive (anti-herbivory) coloration in land plants. Anti-herbivory plant coloration and morphology. Springer Nature, Zug, Switzerland.
Gopher A, Lev-Yadun S, Abbo S. 2020. A "core area – one event" model for Neolithic plant domestication in the Levant: a polemic essay. (in press).

Refereed Articles in Journals
Lev-Yadun S. 1987. Dendrochronology and related studies – a review. Mitekufat Haeven, Journal of the Israel Prehistoric Society, n.s. 20:7-36.
Lev-Yadun S. 1994. Induction of sclereid differentiation in the pith of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. Journal of Experimental Botany 45:1845-1849.
Lev-Yadun S, Aloni R. 1995. Differentiation of the ray system in woody plants. Botanical Review 61:45-88.
Lev-Yadun S. 2000. Cellular patterns in dicotyledonous woods: their regulation. In: Cell & molecular biology of wood formation. Eds. Savidge R, Barnett J, Napier R. pp. 315-324. BIOS Scientific Publishers Ltd., Oxford.
Lev-Yadun S, Gopher A, Abbo S. 2000. The cradle of agriculture. Science 288:1602-1603.
Lev-Yadun S. 2001. Aposematic (warning) coloration associated with thorns in higher plants. Journal of Theoretical Biology 210:385-388.
Lev-Yadun S, Abbo S, Doebley, J. 2002. Wheat, rye, and barley on the cob? Nature Biotechnology 20:337-338.
Lev-Yadun S. 2007. Wood remains from archaeological excavations: a review with a Near Eastern perspective. Israel Journal of Earth Sciences 56:139-162.
Lev-Yadun S. 2009. Aposematic (warning) coloration in plants. In: Plant-environment interactions. From sensory plant biology to active plant behavior. Ed. Baluska, F. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, pp. 167-202.
Lev-Yadun, S, Holopainen JK. 2009. Why red-dominated American autumn leaves and yellow-dominated autumn leaves in Northern Europe? New Phytologist 183:506-512.
Lev-Yadun, S. 2011. Why should trees have natural root grafts? Tree Physiology 31:575-578.
Gorshkova T, Brutch N, Chabbert B, Deyholos M, Hayashi T, Lev-Yadun S, Mellerowicz EJ, Morvan C, Neutelings G, Pilate G. 2012. Plant fiber formation: state of the art, recent and expected progress, and open questions. Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences 31:201-228.
Ronel M, Lev-Yadun S. 2012. The spiny, thorny and prickly plants in the flora of Israel. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 168:344-352.
Lev-Yadun S. 2014. Potential defence from herbivory by ‘dazzle effects’ and ‘trickery coloration’ of leaf variegation. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 111:692-697.
Lev-Yadun S. 2014. Defensive masquerade by plants. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 113:1162-1166.
Lev-Yadun S. 2015. The proposed anti-herbivory roles of white leaf variegation. Progress in Botany 76:241-269.
Melamed* Y, Kislev ME, Geffen E, Lev-Yadun* S, Goren-Inbar* N. 2016. The plant component of an Acheulian diet: a case study from Gesher Benot Ya‘aqov, Israel. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 113:14674-14679 (*Cooresponding authors).
Lev-Yadun S. 2019. Defensive (anti-herbivory) Batesian mimicry in plants. Israel Journal of Plant Sciences 66:34-51.
Lev-Yadun S. 2019. Why is the bark of common temperate Betula and Populus species white? International Journal of Plant Sciences 180:632-642.

Teaching

Flora and Fauna, Geobotany, Plants – Structure and Function, Plants and the Human Culture

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