Beyond long-term averages: making biological sense of a rapidly changing world

Helmuth, Brian; Russell, Bayden D.; Connell, Sean D.; Dong, Yan; Harley, Christopher D. G.; Lima, Fernando P.; Sarà, Gianluca; Williams, Gray A.; Mieszkowska, Nova

doi:10.1186/s40665-014-0006-0

Cited by 124 publications

(118 citation statements)

References 102 publications

(146 reference statements)

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“…To better understand how predicted future thermal environments will impact intertidal organisms, it is critical to capture present day thermal physiological plasticity under ecologically relevant conditions of repeated and stochastic fluctuations in environmental temperature during low tide periods (Helmuth, 2002;Helmuth et al, 2014;Montalto et al, 2016). We predicted that intertidal limpets would tailor their physiology to an unpredictable thermal cue and, consequently, by maintaining high levels of energy reserves and high antioxidant levels, be better prepared to cope with a large temperature increase.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…More studies are needed to identify which aspects of environmental complexity are the key drivers of organisms' physiological responses. Identifying these key components of thermal variability will lead to more informed experimental designs that will improve our predictions regarding how intertidal organisms will respond to climate change (Helmuth et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Essential to our capacity to predict vulnerability of species to future environmental change is a confidence that our estimates of current tolerance limits and response capacity are accurate. It is thought that more accurate predictions will be grounded in experiments that incorporate realistic variability and complexity in an animal's natural environment (Helmuth, 2002;Helmuth et al, 2014;Montalto et al, 2016). Additional empirical evidence is needed to understand to what extent incorporating realistic variability and complexity in an animal's natural environment into experimental design will improve our accuracy of predictions of thermal tolerance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of stochastic thermal environments in modulating the thermal physiology of an intertidal limpet, Lottia digitalis

Drake

Miller

Todgham

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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Much of our understanding of the thermal physiology of intertidal organisms comes from experiments with animals acclimated under constant conditions and exposed to a single heat stress. In nature, however, the thermal environment is more complex. Aerial exposure and the unpredictable nature of thermal stress during low tides may be critical factors in defining the thermal physiology of intertidal organisms. In the fingered limpet, Lottia digitalis, we investigated whether upper temperature tolerance and thermal sensitivity were influenced by the pattern of fluctuation with which thermal stress was applied. Specifically, we examined whether there was a differential response (measured as cardiac performance) to repeated heat stress of a constant and predictable magnitude compared with heat stress applied in a stochastic and unpredictable nature. We also investigated differences in cellular metabolism and damage following immersion for insights into biochemical mechanisms of tolerance. Upper temperature tolerance increased with aerial exposure, but no significant differences were found between predictable treatments of varying magnitudes (13°C versus 24°C versus 32°C). Significant differences in thermal tolerance were found between unpredictable trials with different heating patterns. There were no significant differences among treatments in basal citrate synthase activity, glycogen content, oxidative stress or antioxidants. Our results suggest that aerial exposure and recent thermal history, paired with relief from high low-tide temperatures, are important factors modulating the capacity of limpets to deal with thermal stress.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The role of stochastic thermal environments in modulating the thermal physiology of an intertidal limpet, Lottia digitalis

Drake

Miller

Todgham

2017

Journal of Experimental Biology

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“…While we concede that this limited exposure may not be sufficient to induce significant longterm physiological changes, some mechanisms of physiological responses, such as protein synthesis, oxygen supply, and acidbase regulation, are also involved in short-term exposures, but may not be detectable nor detrimental (Gazeau et al, 2007;Pörtner, 2008). The scenario used here reflects transient warming and acidification events-thought to increase and intensify in the future (Stocker et al, 2013;Helmuth et al, 2014;Fischer and Knutti, 2015)-occurring due to natural temporal variability in seawater conditions (Hauri et al, 2013;Artioli et al, 2014;Guyondet et al, 2014), but also events such as heat waves and coastal upwellings, rather than more prolonged and continuous environmental conditions (Ghedini et al, 2015). Such events have been shown to yield disproportionally high ecological change, and are exacerbated by additional local disturbances (Ghedini et al, 2015 and references therein; Wernberg et al, 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sensory Qualities of Oysters Unaltered by a Short Exposure to Combined Elevated pCO2 and Temperature

et al. 2017

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Reliance on the marine environment for the provision of food is ever-increasing, but future climate change threatens production. Despite this concern, the impact on seafood quality and success of the seafood industry is unknown. Using a short-term study, we test these concerns using a major aquaculture species-Crassostrea gigas-exposing them to three acidification and warming scenarios: (1) ambient pCO 2 (∼400 ppm) & control temperature (15 • C), (2) ambient pCO 2 (∼400 ppm) & elevated temperature (20 • C), (3) elevated pCO 2 (∼1,000 ppm) & elevated temperature (20 • C). Oyster quality was assessed by scoring appearance, aroma, taste, and overall acceptability. A panel of five experts was asked to score nine oysters-three from each treatment-according to agreed criteria. Results indicate that these levels of acidification and warming did not significantly alter the sensory properties of C. gigas, and notably the overall acceptability remained unchanged. Non-statistically supported trends suggest that several sensory attributes-opacity, mouthfeel, aspect of meat, shininess, meat resistance, meat texture, and creaminess-may improve under acidification and warming scenarios. These findings can be considered positive for the future of the aquaculture and food sectors. Crassostrea gigas therefore is expected to remain a key species for food security that is resilient to climate change, whilst retaining its valuable attributes.

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“…The current study only investigated two heat exposures in series. Future research should focus on multiple preliminary sublethal increases in temperature that are stochastic in nature in order to more realistically capture the biologically relevant metrics of environmental change that shape an intertidal organism's temperature sensitivity and upper temperature tolerance (Helmuth et al 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Role of sequential low-tide-period conditions on the thermal physiology of summer and winter laboratory-acclimated fingered limpets, Lottia digitalis

2016

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exposure of 25-35 °C (summer) and 20 °C (winter) had greater upper critical thermal limits of cardiac performance as determined by final breakpoint temperature (~1.5-6 °C increase) and flatline temperature (~1-2 °C increase) than limpets with no previous exposure. The magnitude of temperature increase that conferred significant increases in thermal tolerance differed in summer and winter, reflecting seasonal differences in the thermal environment in nature. Fingered limpets' upper thermal tolerance is plastic and likely modulated by the previous day's low-tide exposure, demonstrating the importance of incorporating the repeated nature of stress into thermal physiology research in intertidal organisms.

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Beyond long-term averages: making biological sense of a rapidly changing world

Cited by 124 publications

References 102 publications

The role of stochastic thermal environments in modulating the thermal physiology of an intertidal limpet, Lottia digitalis

The role of stochastic thermal environments in modulating the thermal physiology of an intertidal limpet, Lottia digitalis

Sensory Qualities of Oysters Unaltered by a Short Exposure to Combined Elevated pCO2 and Temperature

Role of sequential low-tide-period conditions on the thermal physiology of summer and winter laboratory-acclimated fingered limpets, Lottia digitalis

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