Metabolic plasticity improves lobster’s resilience to ocean warming but not to climate-driven novel species interactions

Abstract

Marine species not only suffer from direct effects of warming oceans but also indirectly via the emergence of novel species interactions. While metabolic adjustments can be crucial to improve resilience to warming, it is largely unknown if this improves performance relative to novel competitors. We aimed to identify if spiny lobsters—inhabiting a global warming and species re-distribution hotspot—align their metabolic performance to improve resilience to both warming and novel species interactions. We measured metabolic and escape capacity of two Australian spiny lobsters, resident Jasus edwardsii and the range-shifting Sagmariasus verreauxi, acclimated to current average—(14.0 °C), current summer—(17.5 °C) and projected future summer—(21.5 °C) habitat temperatures. We found that both species decreased their standard metabolic rate with increased acclimation temperature, while sustaining their scope for aerobic metabolism. However, the resident lobster showed reduced anaerobic escape performance at warmer temperatures and failed to match the metabolic capacity of the range-shifting lobster. We conclude that although resident spiny lobsters optimise metabolism in response to seasonal and future temperature changes, they may be unable to physiologically outperform their range-shifting competitors. This highlights the critical importance of exploring direct as well as indirect effects of temperature changes to understand climate change impacts.

Resident lobsters dominate food competition with range-shifting lobsters in an ocean warming hotspot

“…Moreover, even though J. edwardsii maintained dominance, the presence of S. verreauxi may increase the general frequency of competitive interactions as well as activity and aggression levels of J. edwardsii, leading to increased long-term energetic costs and reduced energy stores (Su et al 2020), which may hamper growth and performance (Vøllestad & Quinn 2003), particularly at physiologically sub-optimal temperatures. Thus, at longer acclimation periods exceeding 1 wk (this study), energetic deficiencies or phenotypic shifts (Oellermann et al 2022) may alter competitive performance and outcomes.…”

“…Competitive interaction trials for food were conducted at 3 temperature treatments that encompass current summer (18°C), future summer (21°C) and future summer heatwave (24°C) ocean temperatures off eastern Tasmania (Pecl et al 2009, Oliver et al 2017, Oellermann et al 2022. The trials were between 18 ap prox i mately size-matched (within 5 mm of total length) individuals of Jasus edwardsii and Sagmariasus verreauxi.…”

Reviews and syntheses: Abrupt ocean biogeochemical change under human-made climatic forcing – warming, acidification, and deoxygenation

“…This pattern is generally more pronounced at depth than in the upper water column, and the most vulnerable areas for abrupt habitat loss are detected close 1805 to the aerobic limits of marine species (Fröb et al, 2023). In order to overcome the potential habitat loss, species might be able to a) migrate into regions that allow maintaining a viable population, both horizontally (Poloczanska et al, 2016) plasticity in the aerobic energy metabolism (Oellermann et al, 2022). However, species that are only adapted to low 1810 fluctuations in the available aerobic habitat are particularly vulnerable (Mora et al, 2013), i.e.…”

Simulated Abrupt Shifts in Aerobic Habitats of Marine Species in the Past, Present, and Future

“…If the rate of future ocean warming and deoxygenation is slow, marine species could adapt or acclimatize to changing aerobic habitat conditions (Fox et al., 2019; Seebacher et al., 2015). The physiological plasticity in the aerobic energy metabolism, that is, the ability of individuals to produce a different phenotype, allows species to adjust standard metabolic rates to different temperatures (e.g., Oellermann et al., 2022). Beyond that, because metabolic requirements change with body size; that is, the oxygen demand varies across the size spectrum (Deutsch et al., 2015; Penn et al., 2018), ongoing warming can lead to a reduction in the body size of marine species (Deutsch et al., 2022).…”