Meeting Abstract

S4.10  Wednesday, Jan. 5  Global climate regulators as info-chemicals: Stories from birds and fishes” NEVITT, Gabrielle; Univ. of California, Davis ganevitt@ucdavis.edu

Information transfer influences food web dynamics in the marine environment, but info-chemicals involved in these processes are only beginning to be understood relative to climate regulators shaping ecosystems into the future. Dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) is produced by phytoplankton and other marine algae, and has been studied primarily in the context of sulfur cycling and global climate regulation. My laboratory has been investigating DMSP and its breakdown product, dimethyl sulfide (DMS) as info-chemicals associated with trophic interactions in marine habitats, including sub-Antarctic and coral reef ecosystems. Our work has established that these biogenic sulfur compounds serve as critical signal molecules in marine systems and provides us with a more mechanistic understanding of how climate change events may impact information transfer within marine food webs.