Variation in Phenolic Chemistry in Seagrass Along Environmental Gradients.

Chemical ecology has been suggested as a less time-consuming and more cost-efficient monitoring tool of seagrass ecosystems than traditional methods. Phenolic chemistry in samples was analyzed against latitude, sea depth, sample position within a seagrass meadow (periphery or center) and wave exposure. Multivariate data analysis showed that rosmarinic acid correlated moderately positively with depth, while the flavonoids had an overall strong negative correlation with increasing depth-possibly reflecting lack of stress-induced conditions with increasing depth, rather than a different response to light conditions.