Ocean winter warming induced starvation of predator and prey

Melzner, Frank; Buchholz, Björn; Wolf, Fabian; Panknin, Ulrike; Wall, Marlene

doi:10.1098/rspb.2020.0970

Cited by 15 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…In our experiment, sea star individuals subjected to the Interrupted heatwaves fed more, were more active, and therefore grew faster than individuals exposed to continuous heatwave treatments. Yet, other fitness consequences such as reproductive success were not measured but could have long-term impacts (Melzner et al, 2020). Overall, this demonstrates that sea stars in temperate regions may quickly recover from thermal stress by using the colder periods in between heatwave events.…”

Section: Mitigated Impacts By Interrupted Heatwavesmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Role of Recovery Phases in Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Marine Heatwaves on the Sea Star Asterias rubens

2022

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During recent years, experimental ecology started to focus on regional to local environmental fluctuations in the context of global climate change. Among these, marine heatwaves can pose significant threats to marine organisms. Yet, experimental studies that include fluctuating thermal stress are rare, and if available often fail to base experimental treatments on available long-term environmental data. We evaluated 22-year high-resolution sea surface temperature data on the occurrence of heatwaves and cold-spells in a temperate coastal marine environment. The absence of a general warming trend in the data may in parts be responsible for a lack of changes in heatwave occurrences (frequency) and their traits (intensity, duration, and rate of change) over time. Yet, the retrieved traits for present-day heatwaves ensured most-natural treatment scenarios, enabling an experimental examination of the impacts of marine heatwaves and phases of recovery on an important temperate predator, the common sea star Asterias rubens. In a 68-days long experiment, we compared a 37- and a 28-days long heatwave with a treatment that consisted of three consecutive 12-days long heatwaves with 4 days of recovery in between. The heatwaves had an intensity of 4.6°C above climatological records, resulting in a maximum temperature of 23.25°C. We demonstrate that heatwaves decrease feeding and activity of A. rubens, with longer heatwaves having a more severe and lasting impact on overall feeding pressure (up to 99.7% decrease in feeding rate) and growth (up to 87% reduction in growth rate). Furthermore, heatwaves of similar overall mean temperature, but interrupted, had a minor impact compared to continuous heatwaves, and the impact diminished with repeated heatwave events. We experimentally demonstrated that mild heatwaves of today’s strength decrease the performance of A. rubens. However, this echinoderm may use naturally occurring short interruptions of thermal stress as recovery to persist in a changing and variable ocean. Thus, our results emphasize the significance of thermal fluctuations and especially, the succession and timing of heat-stress events.

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Section: Mitigated Impacts By Interrupted Heatwavesmentioning

confidence: 96%

The Role of Recovery Phases in Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Marine Heatwaves on the Sea Star Asterias rubens

2022

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“…Warming can affect predator–prey interactions differently in different seasons. For example, in mesocosm experiments, warm winter temperatures increased sea star metabolic rates but sea stars did not increase their feeding rates on mussels, in part because mussel body condition declined (Melzner et al, 2020). Mussels' greater resistance to high temperatures compared with some of their intertidal algal space competitors (Weitzman et al, 2021), combined with the benefits mussels may experience from increased temperature during their larval and juvenile stages (Almada‐Villela et al, 1982; Rayssac et al, 2010) could enable them to maintain dominance in the intertidal as long as temperatures remain within mussel's tolerance windows.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting

et al. 2022

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Mussels occupy a key middle trophic position in nearshore food webs linking primary producers to predators. Climate-related environmental changes may synergistically combine with changes in predator abundance to affect intertidal ecosystems. We examined the influence of two major events on mussel (Mytilus trossulus) abundance in the northern Gulf of Alaska: the recent Pacific marine heatwave (PMH, 2014(PMH, -2016 and an outbreak of sea star wasting (SSW). We investigated how mussel abundance changed since the onset of SSW and whether the density of predatory sea stars or PMH-related temperature metrics explain variation in mussel abundance. Sea stars and mussels were surveyed since 2005 approximately annually in four regions of the northern Gulf of Alaska: Katmai (KATM), Kachemak Bay (KBAY), Kenai Fjords (KEFJ) and western Prince William Sound (WPWS). Mussel percent cover in the mid-intertidal increased 1-3 years after declines in sea stars at all regions and in the low-intertidal at KATM, KBAY, and KEFJ, but not at WPWS. After the onset of SSW, large (≥20 mm length) mussel density and mussel bed width increased at KATM but not the other regions. Total mussel densities, including recruits, did not differ before and after the onset of SSW. The total number of sea stars significantly explained variation in mussel metrics, but the proportions of the three sea star species examined did not. We did not find strong evidence for direct effects of temperature on mussels. The effects of the PMH and the SSW outbreak appear to have combined, with increased temperatures indirectly benefiting mussels in concert with relaxed top-down pressure from sea stars, allowing for increased mussel abundance. Changing mussel abundance may affect intertidal local productivity and the abundance or performance of other nearshore consumers of mussels.

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“…The activities of lipase, trypsin, and amylase of the whelk (Rapana venosa) also were influenced by water temperature, and lipase activity at 16 °C was significantly higher than at 28 °C in the digestive gland (Yang et al, 2019). In the context of aquaculture, high temperature can reduce net food intake and body weight of mussels and increase metabolic demands and mortality, resulting in a decrease in fishery productivity (Melzner et al, 2020;Clements et al, 2021). Marine species may show different reproductive cycles due to different water temperature and nutrient conditions (Adzigbli et al, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sex-specific digestive performance of mussels exposed to warming and starvation

et al. 2022

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As global climate change has dramatically impacted the ocean, severe temperature elevation and a decline in primary productivity has frequently occurred, which has affected the structure of coastal biomes. In this study, the sex-specific responses to temperature change and food availability in mussels were determined in terms of digestive performance. The thick-shelled mussels Mytilus coruscus (male and female) were exposed to different temperature and nutritional conditions for 30 days. The results showed that the digestive enzymes of mussels were significantly affected by temperature, food, sex, and their interactions. High temperature (30°C) and starvation significantly decreased amylase, lysozyme, and pepsase activities of female mussels, while trypsin and trehalase did not change significantly at the experimental end. The activity of amylase, trypsin, and trehalase was significantly reduced in males at high temperature (30°C) under starvation treatment, but high temperature (30°C) elevated pepsase. Unsurprisingly, starvation caused the reduction of lysozyme and pepsase under 25°C in males. Amylase, lipase, and trehalase were higher in female mussels compared with males, while the enzymatic activities of lysozyme, pepsase, and trypsin were higher in male mussels than females. Principal component analysis showed that different enzyme activity indexes were separated in male and female mussels, indicating that male and female mussels exhibited significantly different digestive abilities under temperature and food condition change. The study clarified sex-specific response difference in mussel digestive enzymes under warming and starvation and provided guidance for the development of mussel aquaculture (high temperature management and feeding strategy) under changing marine environments.

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Ocean winter warming induced starvation of predator and prey

Cited by 15 publications

References 45 publications

The Role of Recovery Phases in Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Marine Heatwaves on the Sea Star Asterias rubens

The Role of Recovery Phases in Mitigating the Negative Impacts of Marine Heatwaves on the Sea Star Asterias rubens

Evidence of increased mussel abundance related to the Pacific marine heatwave and sea star wasting

Sex-specific digestive performance of mussels exposed to warming and starvation

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