The Chemical Ecology of Shallow-Water Marine Macroalgae and Invertebrates on the Antarctic Peninsula

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9901076BAKERThe proposed research focuses on three questions concerning the evolution of chemical defenses and the underlying assumptions concerning the costs and benefits of producing defensive secondary metabolites. The first question concerns the Resource Availability Model of chemical defense. The proposed research will examine whether macroalgae grown under carbon (light) limitation produce quantitatively higher levels of defensive compounds than those grown in an optimal light environment, and whether chemical defenses in antarctic macroalgae of the nutrient-rich peninsula region are likely to include nitrogen compounds. The second question addresses the Optimal Defense Theory in macroalgae and invertebrates. The proposed research will determine the extent to which chemical defenses are more abundant in reproductive tissue or in other tissues with a high energy content, including offspring (larvae). A corollary to this latter objective is a determination of whether lecithotrophic larvae have a higher incidence of chemical defense than planktotrophic larvae. Finally, using previous work in the Ross Sea as a starting point, the investigation will determine the broad scale spatial variation in chemical defenses and begin to address the evolutionary factors which might promote variation, if it exists. The program will significantly advance our understanding of the evolution of chemical defenses as well as the nature and role of bioactive agents in the ecology of antarctic marine benthos.