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ABSTRACT AimSurveying the demography of populations near species range edges may indicate their vulnerability to range contractions or local extinction as the climate changes. In the rocky intertidal, not only are latitudinal ranges constricted by thermal stress, but tides also create zonation or a ‘vertical range’ driven by sharp environmental gradients. By investigating demographics along the latitudinal and vertical ranges simultaneously, we can investigate whether populations may be vulnerable to a changing climate. LocationRocky intertidal habitats along west coast of the United States. TaxaOchre sea starPisaster ochraceus, six‐armed sea starLeptasteriasspp., emarginate whelks(Nucella ostrina and N. emarginata) and channeled whelkN. canaliculata. MethodsIn 2018, we surveyed the demographics of the taxa above at 33 sites spanning > 11° latitude from central Oregon to southern California, near the southern range limits of each taxon. We counted and sized individuals from the high to low intertidal zone. To understand how environmental stress changed with latitude, we evaluated intertidal temperaturesin situ, as well as tidal extremes, tidal amplitude and wave exposure using offshore buoys. ResultsFor all taxa, population density, the relative proportion of smaller individuals (except for emarginate whelks) and the upper vertical limits on the shore declined from north to south as temperatures increased and high tide height, tidal amplitude and wave heights decreased. In addition, smaller individualLeptasteriasspp. generally inhabited lower shore levels while smaller individual emarginate whelks inhabited higher shore levels coastwide. ForN. canaliculata, smaller animals were higher on shore northward, but lower on shore southward. Main ConclusionsWhile this study is a snapshot in time and cannot assess impacts of climate change, our surveys suggest environmentally‐related demographic limitation toward southern range limits and demographically vulnerable southern populations. Therefore, a warming climate may cause local extinctions or range contractions near southern limits.
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Variation in metabolic rate during low tide aerial exposure in the Asian shore crab Hemigrapsus sanguineus
Abstract Intertidal animals deal with physical gradients daily that create stressful conditions across the shore. These physical gradients influence the physiological performance of organisms, requiring responses that may differ with height on the shore. We examined the respiratory response to aerial exposure in the invasive Asian shore crabHemigrapsus sanguineusduring periods of low tide emersion using two field experiments. The first experiment simultaneously measured respiration of individuals collected from different heights on the shore, which had therefore been emersed for different lengths of time. The second experiment measured respiration of individuals collected at different times from the same tidal height. Respiration rates of crabs in both experiments increased immediately after emersion, nearly doubling by and peaking at ~ 1.5 h of aerial exposure, before decreasing again over the next 1.5 h. These results suggest that the energetic cost of low tide exposure is greatest shortly after emersion during the first half of the typical low tide period, but then decreases thereafter. These respiration patterns facilitate the broad intertidal distribution of this species on rocky shores throughout its range.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2052246
- PAR ID:
- 10505777
- Publisher / Repository:
- Springer Science + Business Media
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Marine Biology
- Volume:
- 171
- Issue:
- 6
- ISSN:
- 0025-3162
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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