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F O L I A G E O B O T A N I C A ET PHYTOT&XOI~OMICA 25, 1990

Bookreview

K ~ v m C. S P ~ c ~ a [ed. ] CHEMICAL

MEDIATION

OF COEVOLUTION

Academic Press, Inc., San Diego, California, U.S.A., 609 pp. This book is based on the symposium on "Chemical Mediation of Coevolution", which was held o n August 14-- 15, 1985, as p a r t of the 36th annual AIBS meeting, at the University of Florida. However, the present publication is the product of considerable reorganization of and addition to the thoughts and knowledge contained in the original symposium. The collected papers refer to the relationship between chemistry and coevolution at several levels and this is probably the first extensive survey of contributions on the processes of cocvohition in t e r m s of the chemistries of the organisms involved. I n 18 chapters 31 the authors (mostly American), formulate their approach to the s t u d y of the role of chemistry in the establishment and control of coevolution and t h e y have reevaluated former and current concepts of coevolution. Different chapters, nearly all of the highest standard, review a broad spectrum of knowledge in this field. The majority of them concern plant-insect chemical systems. One chapter covers the problem of mammalian systems and another insect chemical mimicry. Most of t h e authors have expressed the feeling t h a t coevolution is not all t h a t common; in systems where coovolution is considered active, plant chemistry plays the role of an essential component of its establishment and development. Generally, evidence for coevolution is weak; it is stronger in plant-herbivore associations, while in systems where plant chemistry has been investigated extensively it is possible to find at least some evidence for coevolution. Naturally controversial and contradictory conclusions have sometimes been published concerning the role of chemistry in the mediation of coevolution. The editor K. C. SPENCER, who is at same time the author of two chapters, expresses at the end of the book the collective ideas o f all the authors on the subject of coevolution. In the sections: I. Coevolution as a chemical process; ]I. Coevolved systems and the environment; III. Chemicals as agents of selection; IV. Chemical variation; V. Higher-order interactions; and VI. Coadaptation and cospeciation, he discusses the role of chemistry in coevohition, reestimates the current concepts of coovolution and generates new ideas on coevolutionary interactions. Moreover in conclusion the editor has summarized questions and directions for future studies since "experimental and manipulative multivariate studies addressing chemistry, biochemical regulation, and detoxification in b o t h plants and herbivores, edaphic factors, primary metabolic requirements, genetics ecological factors, and variation of these over space and through time are needed to ultimately define the process of coevolution". The value of this collection and of all the individual papers is very high b o t h for chemists and biologists interested in natural products and chemical ecology. JA~ VRKO5