EAPSI: Japanese Diversity and Ecological Survival Limits of the Fluffy Sea Anemone, Metridium Senile

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In the northern oceans, the distribution and diversity of species has been heavily impacted by glacial maxima. Sea anemones in the widespread temperate genus Metridium are benthic invertebrates that have been affected by past glaciations. Recolonization histories post-glaciation can be constructed and traced back to an originating refugial populations by studying the environmental adaptations and population genetics of contemporary populations of Metridium. This project will investigate the survival limits of Metridium to inform species distribution models while providing a deeper understanding of their potential and past distributions. The research for this project will be conducted at the Akkeshi Marine Station (Hokkaido University) in collaboration with Dr. Masahiro Nakaoka, an expert in marine benthic ecology. This project will be focused on performing experiments of live Metridium senile in aquaria with manipulated variables of temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen. Populations that dispersed to Hokkaido from a southern refugium are expected to tolerate greater higher temperature and to salinity fluctuations, whereas populations originating from deeper water are expected to show lower tolerance for fluctuations in temperature and salinity. Additionally, the researcher will be collecting specimens of M. senile throughout their northern range in Japan for molecular analysis, which, when compared with others throughout the Pacific, will indicate as to whether Japan served as a refugium for the Northern Pacific. These data will be applied to a wider study on the North Atlantic and Pacific phylogeography of M. senile to examine how distributional changes have proceeded and shifted as a response to atmospheric changes and inform how they might respond to future shifting climate conditions. This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This award, under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program, supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.