Ecological and environmental context shape the differential effects of a facilitator in its native and invaded ranges

Hesketh, Amelia V.; Schwindt, Evangelina; Harley, Christopher D. G.

doi:10.1002/ecy.3478

Cited by 8 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…The demonstration of behavioral regulation is comparatively understudied in the marine realm (Pinsky et al, 2019); however, coastal and pelagic marine species, especially mobile ones, can behaviorally thermoregulate through aestivation (Marshall et al, 2015), microhabitat use (Dong et al, 2017; Gilman et al, 2015), and vertical migration patterns (Nay et al, 2015). Shaded microhabitats, such as rock crevices and barnacle beds, can provide thermal refugia during periods of emersion when temperatures in sun‐exposed microhabitats surpass sublethal and lethal thresholds (Dong et al, 2017; Hesketh et al, 2021). The importance of microhabitats has prompted calls to forecast species range shifts based on available thermal refugia temperatures (e.g., Pinsky et al, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, N. ostrina, a congener species that inhabits higher intertidal regions than N. lamellosa, alters its foraging behavior to avoid high aerial thermal stress and thus reduces its overall vulnerability to aerial warming due to climate change (Hayford et al, 2015(Hayford et al, , 2021(Hayford et al, , 2018. However, the growing unpredictability of extreme thermal events complicates the reliability of accessing microhabitats and altering foraging behavior, especially when temperatures in thermal refugia surpass thresholds (Harley et al, 2023, in preparation), cause mortality of biogenic microhabitats (Hesketh et al, 2021), or reduce windows of opportune foraging conditions (Dong et al, 2017).…”

Section: Parametermentioning

confidence: 99%

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Not just range limits: Warming rate and thermal sensitivity shape climate change vulnerability in a species range center

Beaty,

Gehman,

Brownlee

et al. 2023

Ecology

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Climate change manifests unevenly across space and time and produces complex patterns of stress for ecological systems. Species can also show substantial among‐population variability in response to environmental change across their geographic range due to evolutionary processes. Explanatory factors or their proxies, such as temperature and latitude, help parse apart these sources of environmental and intraspecific variability; however, overemphasizing latitudinal trends can obscure the role of local environmental conditions in shaping population vulnerability to climate change. Focusing on the geographic center of a species range to disentangle latitude, we test the hypothesis that populations from warmer regions of a species range are more vulnerable to ocean warming. We conducted a mesocosm experiment and field reciprocal transplant with four populations of a marine snail, Nucella lamellosa, from two regions in British Columbia, Canada, that differ in thermal characteristics: the Central Coast, a cool region, and the Strait of Georgia, one of the warmest regions of this species’ range and one that is warming faster than the Central Coast. Populations from the Strait of Georgia experienced growth reductions at contemporary summertime seawater temperatures in the lab and showed stark reductions in survival and growth under future seawater conditions and when outplanted at their native transplant sites. This indicates high vulnerability to ocean warming, especially given the faster rate of ocean warming in this region. In contrast, populations from the cooler Central Coast demonstrated high performance at contemporary seawater temperatures and high growth and survival in projected future seawater temperatures and at their native outplant sites. Given their position within the geographic center of N. lamellosa's range, extirpation events in the vulnerable Strait of Georgia populations could compromise connectivity within the meta‐population and lead to gaps across this species’ range. Overall, our study supports predictions that populations from warm regions of species ranges are more vulnerable to environmental warming, suggests that the Strait of Georgia and other inland or coastal seas could be focal points for climate change effects and ecological transformation, and emphasizes the importance of analyzing climate change vulnerability in the context of regional environmental data and throughout a species’ range.This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Parametermentioning

confidence: 99%

Not just range limits: Warming rate and thermal sensitivity shape climate change vulnerability in a species range center

Beaty,

Gehman,

Brownlee

et al. 2023

Ecology

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“…Impaired larval performance under ALAN is likely to affect not only population health and distribution but also their role as habitat-forming ecosystem engineers. Sessile fauna like our model organisms, the mussel Mytilus edulis and the barnacle Austrominius modestus , support other species by providing three-dimensional habitats [2–4,30]. As filter feeders with a complex life-cycle involving a larval phase, they couple benthic pelagic systems and contribute to energy flows through trophic chains [5] and the accumulation of calcium and carbon [2,31].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of artificial light at night on the early life history of two ecosystem engineers

Tidau,

Brough,

Gimenez

et al. 2023

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

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Sessile marine invertebrates play a vital role as ecosystem engineers and in benthic–pelagic coupling. Most benthic fauna develop through larval stages and the importance of natural light cycles for larval biology and ecology is long-established. Natural light–dark cycles regulate two of the largest ocean-scale processes that are fundamental to larvae's life cycle: the timing of broadcast spawning for successful fertilization and diel vertical migration for foraging and predator avoidance. Given the reliance on light and the ecological role of larvae, surprisingly little is known about the impacts of artificial light at night (ALAN) on the early life history of habitat-forming species. We quantified ALAN impacts on larval performance (survival, growth, development) of two cosmopolitan ecosystem engineers in temperate marine ecosystems, the mussel Mytilus edulis and the barnacle Austrominius modestus . Higher ALAN irradiance reduced survival in both species (57% and 13%, respectively). ALAN effects on development and growth were small overall, and different between species, time-points and parentage. Our results show that ALAN adversely affects larval survival and reiterates the importance of paternal influence on offspring performance. ALAN impacts on the early life stages of ecosystem engineering species have implications not only for population viability but also the ecological communities that these species support. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Light pollution in complex ecological systems’.

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“…Even if thermal stress is lower beneath shades, low light may have limited algal growth (Pardal‐Souza et al, 2017), preventing the benefit of reduced temperatures from becoming apparent. High intertidal acorn barnacles tend to facilitate a greater abundance of fleshy macroalgae in the northeast Pacific (Hesketh et al, 2021), so an effect of barnacle removal on algae may also have been observed with a longer experiment. Furthermore, the generally low prevalence of algae in terms of both cover (0%–20% cover) and diversity (six species present) at this site may have prevented the detection of any treatment effects.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition to affecting temperature, heatwaves also increase desiccation stress (Straub et al, 2019), which barnacles may mitigate by retaining moisture. For example, in the desiccating environment of Argentinian Patagonia, areas with moisture‐retaining barnacles host a greater abundance of pulmonate limpets than areas without barnacles (Hesketh et al, 2021). However, we do not fully know if there is an upper threshold of abiotic stress above which such positive interactions weaken or cease entirely.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extreme heatwave drives topography‐dependent patterns of mortality in a bed‐forming intertidal barnacle, with implications for associated community structure

Hesketh

Harley

2022

Global Change Biology

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Heatwave frequency and intensity will increase as climate change progresses.Intertidal sessile invertebrates, which often form thermally benign microhabitats for associated species, are vulnerable to thermal stress because they have minimal ability to behaviourally thermoregulate. Understanding what factors influence the mortality of biogenic species and how heatwaves might impact their ability to provide habitat is critical. Here, we characterize the community associated with the thatched barnacle, Semibalanus cariosus (Pallass, 1788), in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Then, we investigate what site-level and plot-level environmental factors explained variations in barnacle mortality resulting from an unprecedented regional heatwave in BC, Canada. Furthermore, we used a manipulative shading experiment deployed prior to the heatwave to examine the effect of thermal stress on barnacle survival and recruitment and the barnacle-associated community. We identified 50 taxa inhabiting S. cariosus beds, with variations in community composition between sites. Site-scale variables and algal canopy cover did not predict S. cariosus mortality, but patch-scale variation in substratum orientation did, with more direct solar irradiance corresponding with higher barnacle mortality. The shading experiment demonstrated that S. cariosus survival, barnacle recruitment, and invertebrate community diversity were higher under shades where substratum temperatures were lower. Associated community composition also differed between shaded and non-shaded plots, suggesting S. cariosus was not able to fully buffer acute thermal stress for its associated community. While habitat provisioning by intertidal foundation species is an important source of biodiversity, these species alone may not be enough to prevent substantial community shifts following extreme heatwaves. As heatwaves become more frequent and severe, they may further reduce diversity via the loss of biogenic habitat, and spatial variation in these impacts may be substantial.

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Ecological and environmental context shape the differential effects of a facilitator in its native and invaded ranges

Cited by 8 publications

References 81 publications

Not just range limits: Warming rate and thermal sensitivity shape climate change vulnerability in a species range center

Not just range limits: Warming rate and thermal sensitivity shape climate change vulnerability in a species range center

Impacts of artificial light at night on the early life history of two ecosystem engineers

Extreme heatwave drives topography‐dependent patterns of mortality in a bed‐forming intertidal barnacle, with implications for associated community structure

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