REU: The Ecology of Inducible Defenses: Competition, Predation, and Geographic Variation

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Inducible defensive strategies against predators are demonstrably important in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats; however, only in benthic marine systems have inducible defenses against competitors emerged as important mechanisms of interaction. In addition to their ecological importance, inducible defenses are powerful tools for the analysis of allocation shifts within phenotypically plastic organisms and of the evolution of defense and aggression. This investigation will employ an experimental approach to analyze proximate and ultimate mechanisms of inducible defenses with the following three goals: 1. To determine the size-specific costs and benefits of inducible responses to predators (spines) and competitors (stolons), independently and in combination. 2. To determine the translocation patterns underlying the highly localized growth and reproduction shifts associated with inducible defenses to predators and competitors using a common currency of carbon (14C radioisotope). 3. To assess the frequency of inducible defenses to predators (spines) and competitors (stolons) in two different geographic and productivity regimes with the ultimate goal of determining the relative biological selection pressures for the inducible defenses.