Geographic and seasonal patterns and limits on the adaptive response to temperature of European Mytilus spp. and Macoma balthica populations

Abstract

Seasonal variations in seawater temperature require extensive metabolic acclimatization in cold-blooded organisms inhabiting the coastal waters of Europe. Given the energetic costs of acclimatization, differences in adaptive capacity to climatic conditions are to be expected among distinct populations of species that are distributed over a wide geographic range. We studied seasonal variations in the metabolic adjustments of two very common bivalve taxa at European scale. To this end we sampled 16 populations of Mytilus spp. and 10 Macoma balthica populations distributed from 39° to 69°N. The results from this large-scale comprehensive comparison demonstrated seasonal cycles in metabolic rates which were maximized during winter and springtime, and often reduced in the summer and autumn. Studying the sensitivity of metabolic rates to thermal variations, we found that a broad range of Q 10 values occurred under relatively cold conditions. As habitat temperatures increased the range of Q 10 narrowed, reaching a bottleneck in southern marginal populations during summer. For Mytilus spp., genetic-group-specific clines and limits on Q 10 values were observed at temperatures corresponding to the maximum climatic conditions these geographic populations presently experience. Such specific limitations indicate differential thermal adaptation among these divergent groups. They may explain currently observed migrations in mussel distributions and invasions. Our results provide a practical framework for the thermal ecophysiology of bivalves, the assessment of environmental changes due to climate change and its impact on (and consequences for) aquaculture.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00442-007-0808-x) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The effect of seasonal temperature variation on behaviour and metabolism in the freshwater mussel (Unio tumidus)

“…Reproduction, most notably gametogenesis, is known to impact significantly upon oxygen consumption rates and energy budgets in marine bivalves (Jansen et al, 2007;Sukhotin, 1992;Urrutia et al, 1999;Widdows, 1978). In a previous study, the oxygen consumption in mature U. tumidus changed in direct accordance with temperature (Tudorancea and Florescu, 1968), similar to what we report here, and elsewhere for A. anatina from the same area (Lurman et al, 2014).…”

Physiological and developmental responses to temperature by the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis

“…Similar relationships between physiological performance and thermal tolerance with latitude have been reported for other coastal species (Jansen et al 2007, Zippay & Hofmann 2010. Along any environmental gradient, genetically based variation in a phenotypic trait may (1) bear no consistent relationship to environmental variation in the trait, (2) positively reinforce environmental variation (cogradient variation), or (3) counteract environmental variation (countergradient variation).…”

“…Additionally, experimental evidence for both adults and larvae has indicated a relationship be tween latitude and temperature tolerance for a number of marine species (Vernberg 1962, Stillman & Somero 2000, Jansen et al 2007, Zippay & Hofmann 2010, which, in many cases, differs from terrestrial species (Sunday et al 2011). In many re ported cases, the temperature tolerance for individuals from a particular location may be near the local temperature maximum, which may explain the strongly correlated observed shifts in distribution reported from field studies (Jentsch et al 2007, Tomanek 2008.…”

Comparative study of ecophysiological and biochemical variation between the Baltic and North Sea populations of the invasive soft shell clam Mya arenaria (L. 1758)

“…High respiration rates at a considerably elevated temperature, observed in spring and autumn in both populations, could be explained by low energy required for enzyme catalyzed reactions in these seasons (Hochachka & Somero 2002), or by additional energy required for gonad development. The lowest respiration rates observed in both populations in summer could be explained as metabolic down-regulation of energy saving in marine cold-blooded invertebrates (Jansen et al 2007). This saving energy mechanism was observed at high water temperatures in southern populations during summer (Wilson & Elkaim 1991).…”