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Intertidal indicators of climate and global change

N. Mieszkowska

Published 2021 in Climatic Change

ABSTRACT

Publisher Summary The rocky intertidal zone spans the region of the coastline from the highest vertical level reached at high water during spring tides to the lowest level exposed to the air during low water springs. A wide variety of taxa inhabit the rocky intertidal zone, including algae, mollusks, echinoderms, cnidarians and crustaceans. Intertidal invertebrates and macroalgae are ectotherms of marine evolutionary origin, but due to the daily regime of emersion and immersion they must contend with both marine and terrestrial regimes. They provide a unique insight into the impacts of changes in both aquatic and terrestrial climatic environments. Diurnal tidal cycles and seasonal fluctuations in both sea and air temperature mean that intertidal organisms are subject to extremes of temperature with resultant fluctuations in body temperature of over 30° C. Marine ectothermic species often respond faster than terrestrial species to environmental change: the typically short lifespan and sessile or sedentary nature of the adult and juvenile stages prevent escape from changing environmental regimes. The larval stage of most intertidal species is planktonic, and therefore also provides an indication of the impacts of environmental change in the pelagic zone. Responses to environmental change can be divided into two categories: proximate ecological responses which depend upon relationships between abiotic factors and organismal-level processes, population dynamics, and community structure; and direct impacts on individual performance during various life stages through changes in physiology, morphology, and behavior. It is of vital importance that research focuses on the combination of maintaining these valuable datasets with the development of experimental research to determine the mechanisms underpinning the observed responses, so that better predictions for the future impacts on intertidal systems from the rapidly changing environment can be made.

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