Substrate size mediates thermal stress in the rocky intertidal

Variation in physical factors, such as slope, orientation, and wind exposure, shapes thermal conditions. Variation in substrate size is common in many habitats, but its thermal consequences for organisms are not well characterized. Larger substrates should remain more thermally stable and act as the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Ecology (Durham) 2011-03, Vol.92 (3), p.576-582
Main Authors: Gedan, Keryn B, Bernhardt, Joanna, Bertness, Mark D, Leslie, Heather M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
abiotic factors
Abiotic stress
Animal and plant ecology
Animal, plant and microbial ecology
Animals
Atlantic Ocean
barnacle
Bedrock
Biological and medical sciences
Body Temperature
climate
Climate change
Climate models
Climatology. Bioclimatology. Climate change
Cobbles
Conservation biology
Crustaceans
Earth, ocean, space
Ecological zones
Ecosystem
Environmental conservation
Exact sciences and technology
External geophysics
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
General aspects
Habitats
heterogeneity
Hot Temperature
littoral zone
Marine ecology
Meteorology
Narragansett Bay
Rhode Island
Seawater
Semibalanus balanoides
Stress, Physiological - physiology
summer
Survival analysis
temperature
temperature thermal refuge
Thermal stress
Thoracica - physiology
USA
Water Movements
wind
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Summary:Variation in physical factors, such as slope, orientation, and wind exposure, shapes thermal conditions. Variation in substrate size is common in many habitats, but its thermal consequences for organisms are not well characterized. Larger substrates should remain more thermally stable and act as thermal refuges for associated organisms during short, thermally stressful periods such as midday temperature peaks or tidal exposure. In observations and a transplant and thermal integration experiment, we found that larger rock substrates stayed cooler and facilitated greater survival of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides in the high intertidal relative to small substrates during the hot summer months in southern New England, USA. However, in thermally benign northern New England, rock substrate size had no effect on barnacle distributions, indicating that the thermal effects of substrate size are mediated by regional climate.
ISSN:0012-9658
1939-9170
DOI:10.1890/10-0717.1