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Climate and recruitment of rocky shore intertidal invertebrates in the eastern North Atlantic.
Ecology. 2008 Nov; 89(11 Suppl):S81-90.E

Abstract

Studies of the impacts of climate and climate change on biological systems often attempt to correlate ecological responses with basin-scale indices such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). However, such correlations, while useful for detecting long-term trends, are unable to provide a mechanism linking the physical environment and ecological processes. Here we evaluate the effects of the NAO on recruitment variability of rocky intertidal invertebrates in the North Atlantic examining two possible climate-related pathways. Using a highly conservative test we interpret associations with the NAO integrated over a season (three months) as an indicator of atmospheric effects on newly settled recruits (NAO3), and the effects of the NAO integrated over six months (NAO6) as an indicator of changes in ocean circulation affecting patterns of larval transport. Through an extensive literature survey we found 13 time series, restricted to southwest Ireland and Britain and comprising five species, that could be used for statistical analysis. Significant correlations with NAO3, our proxy for atmospheric effects, were observed in the south-central domain of our study region (southwest Ireland and south England). Significant correlations with NAO6, the proxy for ocean circulation effects, were detected on southwest Ireland. The associations were detected for three (two barnacles and a topshell) at two sites. These results suggest that the NAO can have effects on the recruitment of intertidal invertebrates through different pathways linked to climate and be distributed heterogeneously in space. Based on previous evidence and the sign and geographic location of significant correlations, we suggest that winter NAO effects are likely to occur as a result of effects on the survival of early life stages settling during spring or through changes in phenology. Our results argue that a combination of modeling and synthesis can be used to generate hypotheses regarding the effects of climate on recruitment and aid in the design of field-based tests of explicit ecological mechanisms.

Authors+Show Affiliations

Broitman BR
National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, State Street 735, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, California 93101, USA. broitman@nceas.ucsb.edu
Mieszkowska N
No affiliation info available
Helmuth B
No affiliation info available
Blanchette CA
No affiliation info available

MeSH

AnimalsAtlantic OceanClimateEcosystemGreenhouse EffectInvertebratesMarine BiologyOceanographyPopulation DensityPopulation DynamicsSeasonsSpecies SpecificityTime Factors

Pub Type(s)

Journal Article
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

Language

eng

PubMed ID

19097486

Citation

Broitman, Bernardo R., et al. "Climate and Recruitment of Rocky Shore Intertidal Invertebrates in the Eastern North Atlantic." Ecology, vol. 89, no. 11 Suppl, 2008, pp. S81-90.
Broitman BR, Mieszkowska N, Helmuth B, et al. Climate and recruitment of rocky shore intertidal invertebrates in the eastern North Atlantic. Ecology. 2008;89(11 Suppl):S81-90.
Broitman, B. R., Mieszkowska, N., Helmuth, B., & Blanchette, C. A. (2008). Climate and recruitment of rocky shore intertidal invertebrates in the eastern North Atlantic. Ecology, 89(11 Suppl), S81-90.
Broitman BR, et al. Climate and Recruitment of Rocky Shore Intertidal Invertebrates in the Eastern North Atlantic. Ecology. 2008;89(11 Suppl):S81-90. PubMed PMID: 19097486.
* Article titles in AMA citation format should be in sentence-case
TY - JOUR T1 - Climate and recruitment of rocky shore intertidal invertebrates in the eastern North Atlantic. AU - Broitman,Bernardo R, AU - Mieszkowska,Nova, AU - Helmuth,Brian, AU - Blanchette,Carol A, PY - 2008/12/23/entrez PY - 2008/12/23/pubmed PY - 2009/1/30/medline SP - S81 EP - 90 JF - Ecology JO - Ecology VL - 89 IS - 11 Suppl N2 - Studies of the impacts of climate and climate change on biological systems often attempt to correlate ecological responses with basin-scale indices such as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). However, such correlations, while useful for detecting long-term trends, are unable to provide a mechanism linking the physical environment and ecological processes. Here we evaluate the effects of the NAO on recruitment variability of rocky intertidal invertebrates in the North Atlantic examining two possible climate-related pathways. Using a highly conservative test we interpret associations with the NAO integrated over a season (three months) as an indicator of atmospheric effects on newly settled recruits (NAO3), and the effects of the NAO integrated over six months (NAO6) as an indicator of changes in ocean circulation affecting patterns of larval transport. Through an extensive literature survey we found 13 time series, restricted to southwest Ireland and Britain and comprising five species, that could be used for statistical analysis. Significant correlations with NAO3, our proxy for atmospheric effects, were observed in the south-central domain of our study region (southwest Ireland and south England). Significant correlations with NAO6, the proxy for ocean circulation effects, were detected on southwest Ireland. The associations were detected for three (two barnacles and a topshell) at two sites. These results suggest that the NAO can have effects on the recruitment of intertidal invertebrates through different pathways linked to climate and be distributed heterogeneously in space. Based on previous evidence and the sign and geographic location of significant correlations, we suggest that winter NAO effects are likely to occur as a result of effects on the survival of early life stages settling during spring or through changes in phenology. Our results argue that a combination of modeling and synthesis can be used to generate hypotheses regarding the effects of climate on recruitment and aid in the design of field-based tests of explicit ecological mechanisms. SN - 0012-9658 UR - https://www.unboundmedicine.com/medline/citation/19097486/Climate_and_recruitment_of_rocky_shore_intertidal_invertebrates_in_the_eastern_North_Atlantic_ DB - PRIME DP - Unbound Medicine ER -