Temperature control of larval dispersal and the implications for marine ecology, evolution, and conservation

Temperature controls the rate of fundamental biochemical processes and thereby regulates organismal attributes including development rate and survival. The increase in metabolic rate with temperature explains substantial among-species variation in life-history traits, population dynamics, and ecosys...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS 2007-01, Vol.104 (4), p.1266-1271
Main Authors: O'Connor, Mary I, Bruno, John F, Gaines, Steven D, Halpern, Benjamin S, Lester, Sarah E, Kinlan, Brian P, Weiss, Jack M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Evolution
Biological Sciences
Biological taxonomies
Conservation of Natural Resources
Dispersal
Ecology
Larva
Larvae
Larval development
Marine
Marine Biology
Marine ecology
Metabolism
Modeling
Multilevel models
Ocean temperature
Temperature
Temperature dependence
Temperature effects
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Temperature controls the rate of fundamental biochemical processes and thereby regulates organismal attributes including development rate and survival. The increase in metabolic rate with temperature explains substantial among-species variation in life-history traits, population dynamics, and ecosystem processes. Temperature can also cause variability in metabolic rate within species. Here, we compare the effect of temperature on a key component of marine life cycles among a geographically and taxonomically diverse group of marine fish and invertebrates. Although innumerable lab studies document the negative effect of temperature on larval development time, little is known about the generality versus taxon-dependence of this relationship. We present a unified, parameterized model for the temperature dependence of larval development in marine animals. Because the duration of the larval period is known to influence larval dispersal distance and survival, changes in ocean temperature could have a direct and predictable influence on population connectivity, community structure, and regional-to-global scale patterns of biodiversity.
ISSN:0027-8424
1091-6490
DOI:10.1073/pnas.0603422104