Refine
Year of publication
- 2022 (1) (remove)
Document Type
- Doctoral Thesis (1)
Language
- English (1)
Has Fulltext
- yes (1)
Is part of the Bibliography
- no (1)
Keywords
- 4169246-9 (1)
- Carcinus meanas (1)
- environmental drivers (1)
- larval responses (1)
- multipopulation (1)
- salinity (1)
- temperature (1)
Institute
Under the influence of human activities, increased climate variability induces changes in
multiple marine environments. Especially vulnerable are the coastal ecosystems where organisms
must cope with constant extreme changes of environmental drivers, such as temperature, salinity, pH,
and oxygen content. In coastal areas, brachyuran crabs are important animals that have a high impact
on ecosystem functioning and serve as a link in food webs and pelagic-benthic coupling. Larval stages
of crabs are crucial for population persistence and dispersal. They are generally more vulnerable to
changes of environmental drivers and failure to adapt to new conditions may result in population
collapse. To analyse the effects of multiple environmental drivers on larval performance and to
elucidate interspecific and intraspecific difference, this project examined larval performance in the
European shore crab Carcinus maenas. In this study, larvae of C. maenas from three native
populations (Cádiz: Cádiz Bay, Helgoland: North Sea, Kerteminde: Baltic Sea) were reared in a
factorial design consisting of different temperature (15-24 °C) and salinity treatments (20, 25, 32.5
PSU). Results demonstrated how descriptors of larval performance (growth, physiological, and
developmental rates, and survival) were affected by combined environmental drivers. Larval
responses to temperature and salinity showed contrasting patterns and differed among native
populations originating from distant or contrasting habitats, as well as within the populations. The
highest overall performance was recorded in the Cádiz population, while the Kerteminde population
had the lowest performance in most of tested traits. The interactive effects of multiple drivers differed
among the populations. In the Cádiz and Helgoland populations, higher temperatures mitigated the
effect of lower salinity while the Kerteminde population showed a maladaptive response when
exposed to lower salinity. Differences in performance showed better locally adapted populations (e.g.
Cádiz) that could acclimate faster, have better adaptive mechanisms or stronger dispersive abilities.
Because of their wider tolerance to increased temperature and decreased salinity, interactive effects
in particular populations may favour some populations in a changing climate, especially in coastal
habitats. Variation in larval performance showed complex interactions in larval performance and
highlighted the necessity to quantify inter-population responses to climate-driven environmental
change where responses of species should not be generalised. This study emphasizes the need for
inclusion of multiple traits, drivers, and populations in experimental studies to properly characterize
performance of marine coastal animals.