22A key element missing from many predictive models of the impacts of climate change 23 on intertidal ectotherms is the role of individual behaviour. In this synthesis, using 24 littorinid snails as a case study, we show how thermoregulatory behaviours may 25 buffer changes in environmental temperatures. These behaviours include either a 26 flight response, to escape the most extreme conditions and utilize warmer or cooler 27 environments; or a fight response, where individuals modify their own environments 28 to minimize thermal extremes. A conceptual model, generated from studies of 29 littorinid snails, shows that various flight and fight thermoregulatory behaviours may 30 allow an individual to widen its thermal safety margin (TSM) under warming or 31 cooling environmental conditions and hence increase species' resilience to climate 32 change. Thermoregulatory behaviours may also buffer sublethal fitness impacts 33 associated with thermal stresses. Through this synthesis, we emphasise that future 34 studies need to consider not only animals' physiological limits but also their capacities 35 to buffer the impact of climate change through behavioural responses. Current 36 generalizations, made largely on physiological limits of species, often neglect the 37 buffering effects of behaviour and may, therefore, provide an over-estimation of 38 vulnerability, and consequently poor prediction of the potential impacts of climate 39 change on intertidal ectotherms. 40 41

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