Marine ecology

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Effect of SPM on juvenile king scallops

May 15th, 2013  |  Published in General ecology, Marine ecology, Publications

Effects of elevated levels of suspended particulate matter and burial on juvenile king scallops Pecten maximus

C.L. Szostek, A.J. Davies and H. Hinz

An individual specimen of Pecten affixed to Hall-effect sensor and magnet.

An individual specimen of Pecten affixed to Hall-effect sensor and magnet.

The effects of exposure to elevated levels of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and burial on juvenile king scallops Pecten maximus L. were assessed in 2 separate experiments. Shell gape activity was monitored during exposure to no SPM and ‘low’ (50 to 100 mg l−1) and ‘high’ (200 to 700 mg l−1) levels of SPM for 18 d. The frequency of shell ‘claps’ (a complete shell closure) and shell movements (of ≥ 10°) differed significantly among treatments. Shell ‘claps’ and movements were significantly greater under high SPM than under low or control conditions. Scallops under low and high levels of SPM showed significantly lower growth rates compared to scallops under control conditions. The response to burial was assessed under varying burial duration (1 to 8 d), depth (0 to 5 cm) and size-fraction of sediment (fine: 0.1 to 0.3 mm, medium fine: 0.4 to 0.8mm and coarse: 1.2 to 2.0 mm diameter). All 3 conditions had a significant influence on the ability of scallops to emerge from burial, as well as on mortality while buried. Emergence was higher at shallower depths and in coarse to medium grain sizes. Mortality rates while buried under coarse and medium grain sizes were low and appeared unrelated to depth, while within fine sediment, mortality increased with depth of burial. Survival decreased across all 3 sediment types with increasing burial duration. Comparison with earlier studies indicates that P. maximus appears more tolerant of burial and elevated levels of SPM than the queen scallop Aequipecten opercularis. Elevated SPM did not have any short-term effects on survival; however, the reduction in growth rate observed has implications for the management of scallop fishing grounds.

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Full citation

Szostek CL, Davies AJ, Hinz H (2013) Effects of elevated levels of suspended particulate matter and burial on juvenile king scallops Pecten maximus. Marine Ecology Progress Series 474:155-165

DOI

doi:10.3354/meps10088

Keeping pace with climate change

September 8th, 2012  |  Published in Marine ecology, Publications

Keeping pace with climate change: what can we learn from the spread of Lessepsian migrants?

J.G. Hiddink, F. Ben Rais Lasram, J. Cantrill, A. J. Davies

Mediterranean Sea

Species need to move to keep pace with changing climates, but we do not know if species can move at the required speed. Spread rates of native species may underestimate how fast species can move, we therefore assessed how fast Lessepsian species (marine non-native species that invaded the Mediterranean from the Red Sea through the Suez Canal) can spread to give a ‘best-case’ assessment of the effects of climate change on marine biodiversity. We show that about 20% of Lessepsian species could not spread fast enough to keep pace with climate change in about 20% of the global seas and this suggests that climate change may lead to biodiversity loss. The velocity of climate change on the seabed is much lower than at the sea surface, and as a result of this the proportion of species that keep pace with climate change at the seabed was much larger than at the sea surface. This suggests that locations at depth could act as refuges for slow dispersing species. Our analysis compared different estimates of the spreading abilities of marine species and showed that the estimate of spread rates strongly affects the predicted effect of climate change on biodiversity. Providing more accurate estimates of the spreading ability of marine species should therefore have priority if we want to predict the effect of climate change on marine biodiversity. This study is a first approximation of the potential scale and distribution of global marine biodiversity loss and can provide benchmark estimates of the spread rates that species could achieve in colonizing suitable habitat. Assisted colonization may be required to maintain biodiversity in the most strongly affected areas.

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Full citation

Hiddink JG, Ben Rais Lasram F, Cantrill J, Davies AJ (2012) Keeping pace with climate change: what can we learn from the spread of Lessepsian migrants? Global Change Biology 18:2161-2172

DOI

doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02698.x

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