Chemical Ecology in Aquatic Systems

In recent years it has become increasingly clear that chemical interactions play a fundamental role in aquatic habitats and have far-reaching evolutionary and ecological consequences. A plethora of studies have shown that aquatic organisms from most taxa and functional groups respond to minute concentrations of chemical substances released by other organisms. However, our knowledge of this "chemical network" is still negligible. Chemical interactions can be divided into two larger sub-areas based on the function of the chemical substance. First, there are interactions where chemical substances are toxic to other organisms and are used as a defence against consumers (including both herbivores and predators) or a weapon against competitors (allelopathy). Second, chemical substances may be used as a source for information of the environment; for example: how can I find the optimal habitat, the best food, the nicest partner, and avoid being eaten? Aquatic organisms are able to detect and respond to extremely low concentrations of chemical cues to answer all these questions. The book aims at connecting these intriguing chemical interactions with traditional knowledge of organism interactions.

Chemical Ecology of Aquatic Systems covers a wide range of studies, both plant and animal, from different geographic regions and habitats - pelagic as well as benthic. Most of the chemical interactions are similar in freshwater and marine habitats and this book therefore strives at integrating work on both systems.

Chemical ecology of aquatic systems - an introduction, Christer Bronmark and Lars-Anders Hansson
1. Aquatic odour dispersal fields: opportunities and limits of detection, communication, and navigation, Jelle Atema
2. Information conveyed by chemical cues, Eric von Elert
3. Pheromones mediating sex and dominance in aquatic animals, Thomas Breithaupt and Jorg D. Hardege
4. Chemical signals and kin biased behaviour, Gabriele Gerlach and Cornelia Hinz
5. The use of chemical cues in habitat recognition and settlement, Gabriele Gerlach and Jelle Atema
6. Migration and navigation, Ole B. Stabell
7. Death from downstream: chemosensory navigation and predator-prey processes, Marc Weissburg
8. The taste of predation and the defences of prey, Linda Weiss, Christian Laforsch, and Ralph Tollrian
9. The evolution of alarm substances and disturbance cues in aquatic animals, Douglas P. Chivers, Grant E. Brown, and Maud C.O. Ferrari
10. Scaling up infochemicals: ecological consequences of chemosensory assessment of predation risk, Andrew M. Turner and Scott D. Peacor
11. Neuroecology of predator-prey interactions, Charles D. Derby and Richard K. Zimmer
12. Why is the jack of all trades a master of none? Studying the evolution of inducible defences in aquatic systems, Ulrich K. Steiner and Josh R. Auld
13. How to explore the sometimes unusual chemistry of aquatic defence chemicals, Georg Pohnert
14. Allelochemical interactions among aquatic primary producers, Elisabeth M. Gross, Catherine Legrand, Karin Rengefors, and Urban Tillmann
15. Chemical defences against herbivores, Henrik Pavia, Finn Baumgartner, Gunnar Cervin, Swantje Enge, Julia Kubanek, Goran M. Nylund, Erik Selander, J. Robin Svensson, and Gunilla B. Toth
16. Chemical defences against predators, Cynthia Kicklighter
17. Info-disruption: pollutants interfering with the natural chemical information conveyance in aquatic systems, Miquel Lurling
18. Aquatic chemical ecology: new directions and challenges for the future, Christer Bronmark and Lars-Anders Hansson
Index