Tolerance limits of early live history stages and their relevance for the biodiversity and biogeography of reptant decapod crustaceans
Final Report Abstract
The data on larvae of the Chilean kelp crab Taliepus dentatus are the first comprehensive data on larval thermal tolerance and confirm the pattern found in marine invertebrate adults, including crustacea. Larvae of T. dentatus showed differences in thermal tolerance among larval stages and between populations indicating variable specialization according to climate variability in time and space. Zoea I showed the broadest, zoea II an intermediate, and megalopae the narrowest tolerance window. The narrowing of the thermal tolerance window from the smallest (zoea I) to the largest (megalopa) larval stage (zoea I, zoeaII and megalopa)) further confirms the OCLTT because the concept predicts temperature-dependent aerobic limits are experienced earlier by larger than by smaller individuals. It was surprising that lecithotrophic larvae show broader thermal ranges compared to planktotrophic larvae of closely related species occurring at the same sites and environmental temperature variability and not as expected shifted to colder temperatures. The minimization of baseline energy costs in lecithotrophic larvae at maximized developmental rates facilitates species with lecithotrophic development to survive more extreme temperatures at both sites of the scale and thus, favours them to widen its biogeographical range or survive in regions with extreme temperatures such as the Antarctic shelf. However, independent of the developmental mode of the species, it was evident that transition phases such as moulting or metamorphosing megalopa are more sensitive to temperature extremes. Therefore, there is the need to further deepen our knowledge about thermal sensitivities between varying life stages and to identify bottlenecks during life history to understand the mechanisms of setting biogeographic range limits. This will also help to explain on-going shifts in species distribution and open up new ways of predicting changes in near future.
Publications
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(2009) Limited Thermal Plasticity and Climate Change, Science 323:876-877
Pörtner HO, Farrell AP, Knust R, Lannig G, Mark F & Storch D
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(2009) Thermal physiology in Antarctic cold-blooded animals – from molecules to ecosystem. In: Biological Studies in Polar Oceans, Exploration of Life in Icy Waters (editors Gotthilf Hempel, Irmtraut Hempel), 257-266
Storch D, Pörtner HO
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(2009) Thermal tolerance of crustacean larvae (zoea I) in two different populations of the kelp crab Taliepus dentatus (Milne-Edwards). Journal of Experimental Biology 212:1371-1376
Storch D, Santelices P, Barria J, Cabeza K, Pörtner HO & Fernández M
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(2011) Temperature-dependent activity in early life stages of the stone crab Paralomis granulosa (Decapoda, Anomura, Lithodidae): a role for ionic and Magnesium regulation? Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 397:27-37
Wittmann AC, Storch D, Anger K, Pörtner HO, Sartoris FJ
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(2011) Thermal tolerance of larval stages of the Chilean kelp crab Taliepus dentatus. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 429:157-167
Storch D, Fernández M, Navarrete S, Pörtner HO
