Variations in tolerance to climate change in a key littoral herbivore

Rugiu, Luca; Manninen, Iita; Sjöroos, Joakim; Jormalainen, Veijo

doi:10.1007/s00227-017-3275-x

Cited by 14 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…In contrast, the Baltic Sea shows strong annual fluctuations from subzero during winter to +25 °C in summer, and thereby projected changes in average future temperatures have less severe effects compared to the predicted shift in salinity. Here, both Fucus and Idotea live within their optimal temperature range and can tolerate much higher average seawater temperatures than predicted by future climate scenarios 47–50 . Nevertheless, the expected increase in temperature may still lead to re-structuring of the Baltic Sea ecosystem through increasing the frequency of heat waves and through multiple synergistic effects of climate change conditions on producer, herbivore and predator trophic levels 47,48,51,52 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In our experiments we sampled Fucus and Idotea populations along the Baltic Sea, from the entrance to the marginal region 49,50 . Then the species were reared under the current ambient and future conditions projected to occur in the region of origin of the populations.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We quantified the joint effect of salinity and temperature on growth of Fucus and survival of Idotea in experiments carried out at the Archipelago Sea Research Institute in Seili, SW Finland (60°14′N, 21°58′E) in 2014–2015 (for detailed descriptions of these experiments, see 49,50 ). Experimental organisms were collected from multiple populations originating from three functionally different regions defined above (entrance, central and marginal) (Supplementary Fig.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integrating experimental and distribution data to predict future species patterns

Kotta

Vanhatalo

Jänes

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

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Predictive species distribution models are mostly based on statistical dependence between environmental and distributional data and therefore may fail to account for physiological limits and biological interactions that are fundamental when modelling species distributions under future climate conditions. Here, we developed a state-of-the-art method integrating biological theory with survey and experimental data in a way that allows us to explicitly model both physical tolerance limits of species and inherent natural variability in regional conditions and thereby improve the reliability of species distribution predictions under future climate conditions. By using a macroalga-herbivore association (Fucus vesiculosus - Idotea balthica) as a case study, we illustrated how salinity reduction and temperature increase under future climate conditions may significantly reduce the occurrence and biomass of these important coastal species. Moreover, we showed that the reduction of herbivore occurrence is linked to reduction of their host macroalgae. Spatial predictive modelling and experimental biology have been traditionally seen as separate fields but stronger interlinkages between these disciplines can improve species distribution projections under climate change. Experiments enable qualitative prior knowledge to be defined and identify cause-effect relationships, and thereby better foresee alterations in ecosystem structure and functioning under future climate conditions that are not necessarily seen in projections based on non-causal statistical relationships alone.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Integrating experimental and distribution data to predict future species patterns

Kotta

Vanhatalo

Jänes

et al. 2019

Sci Rep

Self Cite

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“…The results indicated that both these species may seriously suffer from the projected future warming/hyposalinity (Rugiu et al. ,b). Furthermore, previous experimental studies showed that the reproduction of F. vesiculosus is impaired at salinities below 4, which likely means that this alga will be increasingly sensitive to future salinity changes in this part of the Baltic Sea (Serrão et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tolerance to climate change of the clonally reproducing endemic Baltic seaweed, Fucus radicans: is phenotypic plasticity enough?

Rugiu

Manninen

Rothäusler

et al. 2018

Journal of Phycology

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To predict the effects of climate change, we first need information on both the current tolerance ranges of species and their future adaptive potential. Adaptive responses may originate either in genetic variation or in phenotypic plasticity, but the relative importance of these factors is poorly understood. Here, we tested the tolerance of Fucus radicans to the combination of hyposalinity and warming projected by climate models for 2070–2099. We measured the growth and survival responses of thalli in both current and future conditions, focusing on variations in tolerance among and within different clonal lineages. Survival was 32% lower in future than in current conditions, but the weight and length of the thalli which survived was respectively 267% and 178% higher when exposed to future conditions. The relatively high tolerance to the future conditions suggests that F. radicans is likely to persist in its current distributional range, which is limited to the Gulf of Bothia and Estonian coast in the Baltic Sea. Furthermore, this species may be able to expand its distribution southward and replace its congener F. vesiculosus, which, in previous studies, has not tolerated the future conditions as well. In addition, we discovered variation in tolerance to future conditions within one of the clonal lineages, which have been hitherto presumed to lack adaptive variation. The discovery of intra‐clonal phenotypic plasticity means that this alga has the potential for adaptive responses to climate change, which may be the key to the future persistence of F. radicans in the Baltic Sea.

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“…This is possible despite the fact that biometric variables (seagrass LAI, biomass) explained a relatively low proportion of variance in abundance; while these measurements were taken at a single time point during field sampling, the abiotic variables represented annual averages (Assis et al 2018) and therefore better represent long-term productivity. Second, temperature and salinity may affect species' abundances via environmental tolerance ranges; for example, the isopod Idotea baltica (a relative of P. resecata and P. montereyensis in our study) experiences significantly lower survival in prolonged exposure to higher temperatures and lower salinities than those in their home habitat (Rugiu et al 2018). Third, temperature may influence invertebrate metabolic demands, thereby influencing consumption rates and available primary biomass (O 'Connor 2009).…”

Section: Regional Species Abundance Patterns Suggest Weak Environmentmentioning

confidence: 90%

Beyond a single patch: local and regional processes explain diversity patterns in a seagrass epifaunal metacommunity

Stark

Thompson

Yakimishyn

et al. 2018

Preprint

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Ecological communities are jointly structured by dispersal, density-independent responses to environmental conditions and density-dependent biotic interactions. Metacommunity ecology provides a framework for understanding how these processes combine to determine community composition among local sites that are regionally connected through dispersal. In 17 temperate seagrass meadows along the British Columbia coast, we tested the hypothesis that eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) epifaunal invertebrate assemblages are influenced by local environmental conditions, but that high dispersal rates at larger spatial scales dampen effects of environmental differences. We used hierarchical joint species distribution modelling to understand the contribution of environmental conditions, spatial distance between meadows, and species co-occurrences to epifaunal invertebrate abundance and distribution across the region. We found that patterns of taxonomic compositional similarity among meadows were inconsistent with dispersal limitation and meadows in the same region were often no more similar to each other than meadows over 1000 km away. Abiotic environmental conditions (temperature, dissolved oxygen) explained a small fraction of variation in taxonomic abundances patterns across the region. We found novel co-occurrence patterns among taxa that could not be explained by shared responses to environmental gradients, suggesting the possibility that interspecific interactions influence seagrass invertebrate abundance and distribution. Our results add to mounting evidence that suggests that the biodiversity and ecosystem functions provided by seagrass meadows reflect ecological processes occurring both within meadows and across seascapes, and suggest that management of eelgrass habitat for biodiversity may be most effective when both local and regional processes are considered.

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Variations in tolerance to climate change in a key littoral herbivore

Cited by 14 publications

References 69 publications

Integrating experimental and distribution data to predict future species patterns

Integrating experimental and distribution data to predict future species patterns

Tolerance to climate change of the clonally reproducing endemic Baltic seaweed, Fucus radicans: is phenotypic plasticity enough?

Beyond a single patch: local and regional processes explain diversity patterns in a seagrass epifaunal metacommunity

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