Cued in: advances and opportunities in freshwater chemical ecology

We focus this mini-review on how naturally occurring chemical cues mediate ecological interactions, especially interspecific competition and predation in freshwater communities. Although freshwater chemical ecology lags behind terrestrial and marine chemical ecology, we identify recent progress toward: (1) identifying the chemical composition of cues important in food web interactions, e.g., specific glucosinolates, benzyl succinoates, and lignoids as deterrents to herbivory on freshwater macrophytes; (2) employing a nonreductionist approach that tests for emergent responses to suites of multiple chemical cues, e.g., trade-offs in snail refuge-seeking behavior in the presence of chemical cues from both fish and crayfish; (3) investigating how abiotic forces, such as hydrodynamics, impact chemical communication across a broad spatial and temporal scale, e.g., drift responses of mayfly nymphs to whole-stream additions of trout cue; and (4) quantifying the importance of genetic variability, e.g., how chemical cues change selective pressures of local environments. The questions of interest in freshwater chemical ecology cross taxonomic boundaries; traverse broad spatial and temporal scales; demonstrate nonlinear, unpredictable results; and necessitate a multidisciplinary approach for adequate understanding.