The present review addresses recent findings made in the western Iberia ecosystem on the behavioural and physical interactions that regulate dispersal, supply to coastal habitats and settlement of invertebrate larvae. These studies used the barnacle Chthamalus spp. and the crab Carcinus maenas as model organisms. The observations made on the Iberian shelf showed extensive diel vertical migrations along the water column by representatives of both groups that have never been reported before. The interaction of the diel vertical migration with the two-layer flow structure of upwelling/downwelling circulation suggests a mechanism that may help to retain larvae in shelf waters during upwelling conditions. Measurements of daily supply of C. maenas megalopae to estuaries separated by 500 km disclosed a semilunar pattern, with highest supply around highest amplitude tides, indicating that supply of megalopae to estuaries is accomplished by selective tidal stream transport. Relaxation of equatorward winds also played a role in supply, by enhancing translocation of megalopae to the nearshore. Concerning Chthamalus larvae, the observations on daily settlement made at rocky shores also separated by 500 km showed unclear patterns between locations and years. The relationship of settlement with water temperature, tidal range and upwelling indices indicated that supply of barnacle cyprids may be controlled by multiple mechanisms, viz. upwelling/downwelling circulation, internal tidal bores and sea breezes.
This study examines the importance of thermal refugia along the majority of the geographical range of a key intertidal species (Patella vulgata Linnaeus, 1758) on the Atlantic coast of Europe. We asked whether differences between sun-exposed and shaded microhabitats were responsible for differences in physiological stress and ecological performance and examined the availability of refugia near equatorial range limits. Thermal differences between sun-exposed and shaded microhabitats are consistently associated with differences in physiological performance, and the frequency of occurrence of high temperatures is most probably limiting the maximum population densities supported at any given place. Topographical complexity provides thermal refugia throughout most of the distribution range, although towards the equatorial edges the magnitude of the amelioration provided by shaded microhabitats is largely reduced. Importantly, the limiting effects of temperature, rather than being related to latitude, seem to be tightly associated with microsite variability, which therefore is likely to have profound effects on the way local populations (and consequently species) respond to climatic changes.
a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f oKeywords: Barnacles Growth Pollicipes pollicipes Portugal Recruitment Size structure A general model for the life cycle of Pollicipes pollicipes in SW Portugal is proposed integrating results from a study on recruitment, growth and population size structure. A brief summary of literature concerning Pollicipes published since Margaret Barnes' review paper of 1996 is presented. Recruitment of P. pollicipes on conspecifics (number of cyprids and juveniles with Rostro-Carinal length (RC) b 0.6 mm per adult) was intense during summer and autumn, but inter-annual variation in the timing and duration of recruitment season was observed. Different indices of recruitment used in Iberian studies were compared. Spatial correlation between shores (∼40 km apart) in SW Portugal suggests that cyprids of P. pollicipes are being affected by the same larval pool and physical transport processes operating at this scale. Recruitment of P. pollicipes in SW Portugal was higher on the low shore (∼2.5 times) than on the high shore. Most recruits were attached to the lower half of the adult peduncle. The period of maximum attachment of juveniles (RC b 12.5 mm) to conspecifics was summer and autumn (average of 15 juveniles per adult), while spring was the season with a lower number of juveniles growing on adults (average of 2 juveniles). Size of juveniles attached to conspecifics was rarely greater than 6 mm RC. Individual annual growth rate of P. pollicipes that settled on a denuded surface was 15.7 mm RC (individuals ≤ 1 year old) which corresponds to a monthly increment of 1.3 mm RC in their first year of life. Size structure analyses of P. pollicipes attached directly to primary substratum and/or to the base of conspecifics showed that barnacles at the low tide level reached a higher maximum size, indicating that growth at this level was faster than on the high shore. A higher temporal variability between these size-frequency distributions was detected in spring (March to May). In March, two cohorts (b1 year old, N 1 year old) were identified. In May and August, it was difficult to identify individual different cohorts. From mid autumn to early spring, as a consequence of recruitment of barnacles to the primary substratum, it was again possible to identify two cohorts.
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