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Short-term in situ warming influences early development of sessile assemblages

Short-term in situ warming influences early development of sessile assemblages
Short-term in situ warming influences early development of sessile assemblages
Increased temperature is arguably the most important facet of global climate change, as temperature influences processes across all biological scales. In terrestrial systems, the influence of warming on community dynamics has been investigated through field manipulations of temperature but, in contrast, there have been very few warming experiments conducted in the sea. Here, we used heated settlement panels to manipulate microhabitat temperature in situ for >3 wk, to examine how short-term warming affects community development. We conducted 2 independent experiments in contrasting subtidal habitats in the Perth (Australia) metropolitan area, to determine the usefulness of the field-based approach and to examine consistencies in community-level response to warming. In the first experiment (Swan River estuary), a ~2°C warming treatment resulted in a lower space coverage of a tube-building amphipod and higher coverage of a solitary ascidian, Ciona intestinalis, which contributed to significant differences in community structure. In a second experiment (Hillarys Harbour), the bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata, spirorbid polychaete worms, and C. intestinalis covered less space on warmed surfaces than controls. This was associated with greater biomass of a colonial ascidian and widespread marine pest, Didemnum perlucidum, under warmer conditions, which overgrew and probably outcompeted other taxa. Our results show that community responses to short-term warming are variable and are influenced by individual responses of assemblage dominants. We discuss limitations of the study and highlight the importance of community-level, field-based manipulations of environmental change factors which examine interactions between all available members of the local species pool.
hot plates, temperature manipulations, fouling assemblages, climate change, benthic community structure, invasive species
129-136
Smale, D.A.
19528a3a-f66c-474d-ae13-c6405b8014ab
Wernberg, T.
bec9ff1e-2077-4be0-867f-488a1ff04183
Smale, D.A.
19528a3a-f66c-474d-ae13-c6405b8014ab
Wernberg, T.
bec9ff1e-2077-4be0-867f-488a1ff04183

Smale, D.A. and Wernberg, T. (2012) Short-term in situ warming influences early development of sessile assemblages. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 453, 129-136. (doi:10.3354/meps09680).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Increased temperature is arguably the most important facet of global climate change, as temperature influences processes across all biological scales. In terrestrial systems, the influence of warming on community dynamics has been investigated through field manipulations of temperature but, in contrast, there have been very few warming experiments conducted in the sea. Here, we used heated settlement panels to manipulate microhabitat temperature in situ for >3 wk, to examine how short-term warming affects community development. We conducted 2 independent experiments in contrasting subtidal habitats in the Perth (Australia) metropolitan area, to determine the usefulness of the field-based approach and to examine consistencies in community-level response to warming. In the first experiment (Swan River estuary), a ~2°C warming treatment resulted in a lower space coverage of a tube-building amphipod and higher coverage of a solitary ascidian, Ciona intestinalis, which contributed to significant differences in community structure. In a second experiment (Hillarys Harbour), the bryozoan Watersipora subtorquata, spirorbid polychaete worms, and C. intestinalis covered less space on warmed surfaces than controls. This was associated with greater biomass of a colonial ascidian and widespread marine pest, Didemnum perlucidum, under warmer conditions, which overgrew and probably outcompeted other taxa. Our results show that community responses to short-term warming are variable and are influenced by individual responses of assemblage dominants. We discuss limitations of the study and highlight the importance of community-level, field-based manipulations of environmental change factors which examine interactions between all available members of the local species pool.

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More information

e-pub ahead of print date: 7 May 2012
Published date: 2012
Keywords: hot plates, temperature manipulations, fouling assemblages, climate change, benthic community structure, invasive species
Organisations: Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 347809
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/347809
PURE UUID: 29f72883-d4b3-4da6-a152-a3d1fa45d77d

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Date deposited: 30 Jan 2013 13:45
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 12:52

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Contributors

Author: D.A. Smale
Author: T. Wernberg

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