Bodmer, M. D. V.; Wheeler, P. M.; Hendrix, A. M.; Cesarano, D. N.; East, A. S. and Exton, D. A.
(2017).
|
PDF (Accepted Manuscript)
- Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader
Download (1MB) | Preview |
| DOI (Digital Object Identifier) Link: | https://doi.org/10.3354/meps12034 |
|---|---|
| Google Scholar: | Look up in Google Scholar |
Abstract
Caribbean long-spined sea urchin Diadema antillarum populations crashed following a mass mortality event in 1983-1984 with cascading effects on reef health. Population restoration efforts may be hampered by unknown effects of short- and long-term elevated sea surface temperature (SST). We investigated how a key behavioural trait, predator avoidance behaviour (PAB; percentage of long defensive spines that moved in response to shadow stimuli), was affected by elevated SST in 180 individuals from 2 contrasting Honduran reefs: Utila (flattened reef structure, dearth of predation refugia) and Banco Capiro (complex reef structure, abundant refugia). Initiation of PAB is mediated by melanin, which breaks down at elevated water temperatures; thus, as SST rises, D. antillarum may become vulnerable to predation. We compared local current SST (CSST; 29.7°C) with 2 IPCC predicted long-term climate change scenarios under laboratory conditions. PAB decreased by 13.98-15.37% at CSST +1.4°C and 31.67-42.44% at CSST +3.1°C. Trial temperatures were similar to maxima recorded in the Caribbean during the 2016 El Niño, so our results also represent likely responses to worst-case short-term acute temperature anomalies. Juveniles maintained higher PAB than adults, indicating increased reliance on anti-predation behaviours. White-spined phenotypes from Utila’s flattened reef maintained higher PAB than black-spined counterparts, likely due to increased conspicuousness to visual predators. Habitat complexity may mitigate temperature-driven losses in natural behavioural defences. D. antillarum may be resilient to near-term (<2039) SST increases and periodic temperature stresses but may struggle under long-term, worst-case scenario conditions. Restoration of D. antillarum populations must be coupled to augmented reef complexity to improve future resilience.
| Item Type: | Journal Item |
|---|---|
| Copyright Holders: | 2017 Inter-Research. |
| Keywords: | long-spined sea urchin; climate change; IPCC; conservation; Honduras; Caribbean |
| Academic Unit/School: | Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) > Environment, Earth and Ecosystem Sciences Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) |
| Item ID: | 48870 |
| Depositing User: | Philip Wheeler |
| Date Deposited: | 08 Mar 2017 11:48 |
| Last Modified: | 01 May 2019 15:03 |
| URI: | http://oro.open.ac.uk/id/eprint/48870 |
| Share this page: |     |
Metrics
Altmetrics from Altmetric | Citations from Dimensions |
Download history for this item
These details should be considered as only a guide to the number of downloads performed manually. Algorithmic methods have been applied in an attempt to remove automated downloads from the displayed statistics but no guarantee can be made as to the accuracy of the figures.
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)