Climate change-driven range expansion of an invasive marine invertebrate

气候变化驱动的入侵海洋无脊椎动物的范围扩大

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-06160
• 负责人: McKindsey, Christopher
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Université Laval
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2022-01-01 至 2023-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=745024
• 关键词: Climate; change; driven; range; expansion

Coastal marine systems are ideal for developing and testing ecological theory. However, as an important interface between terrestrial and aquatic biomes, they are heavily affected by local anthropogenic influences (e.g. pollution, coastal development). Climate change (CC) in particular has influenced intertidal environments where changes in both air and water temperatures may alter the environment in which intertidal organisms live. Coastal ecosystems are also disproportionally affected by biological invasions as ports are often gateways for the introduction of non-indigenous species. Intertidal communities in the Québec St. Lawrence maritime estuary (SLME) are structured by annual winter ice scour disturbance and physical heterogeneity (e.g., crevices, spaces between boulders) plays a key role in providing refuges for sessile (e.g. mussels, seaweeds) and mobile (e.g. snails, crabs) species. Most common species are indigenous to this ecosystem, with the exception of the periwinkle Littorina littorea, an herbivorous snail that was introduced into eastern Canada in the mid-1800s. It has since spread throughout the Canadian Maritimes and the northeastern USA, becoming a dominant consumer on many shores. Its spread into the SLME has, however, been historically limited, but its abundance has increased dramatically in the last decades.The general objective of this proposal is to examine the impacts of this recent range expansion on SLME intertidal communities and how CC-related environmental variables modulate these impacts. Using field- and laboratory-based approaches, the relative influence of air and water temperature on the abundance, distribution and behaviour of this invader will be assessed, including its effects on food resources (benthic microalgae), competitors, and other benthic invertebrates by addressing three major objectives. First, completing a habitat- (e.g., bays vs. rocky points) and microhabitat-specific (e.g., crevices vs. exposed rock surfaces) synoptic survey of the snail's current abundance and distribution in the SLME. In parallel, the habitat- and microhabitat-specific thermal environment will be assessed and inter-annual shifts in habitat/microhabitat use documented. Second, field and laboratory mesocosm manipulations of air and water temperature will assess the behavioural basis of microhabitat preferences and demographic consequences (e.g., growth, survival). Third, community impacts (competition for microalgal food and shelter with the native L. saxatilis and impacts on sessile species) will be evaluated. Overall, this integrated approach examining the consequences of this invasion will provide both a conceptual framework for addressing concerns of climate change-mediated range expansion of non-indigenous species and practical knowledge on the dynamics of key elements of this coastal ecosystem.

沿海海洋系统是开发和测试生态学理论的理想之选。然而，作为陆地和水生生物群之间的重要界面，它们受到当地人为影响(如污染、沿海开发)的严重影响。气候变化尤其影响了潮间带环境，在这些环境中，气温和水温的变化可能会改变潮间带生物生活的环境。沿海生态系统也受到生物入侵的不成比例的影响，因为港口往往是引进非土著物种的门户。魁北克圣劳伦斯海洋河口潮间带群落(SLME)是由每年冬季冰川冲刷干扰构成的，物理异质性(如缝隙、巨石之间的空间)在为固着物种(如贻贝、海藻)和活动物种(如蜗牛、螃蟹)提供避难所方面起着关键作用。大多数常见物种都是这个生态系统的本土物种，除了长春螺属Littorina littorea，这是一种于19世纪中期引入加拿大东部的食草性蜗牛。自那以后，它已经蔓延到加拿大马里泰姆和美国东北部，成为许多海岸的主要消费者。然而，它在SLME的扩散在历史上是有限的，但它的丰度在过去几十年里急剧增加。这项建议的总体目标是研究最近范围扩大对SLME潮间带群落的影响，以及与CC相关的环境变量如何调节这些影响。利用现场和实验室的方法，将评估气温和水温对这种入侵者的丰度、分布和行为的相对影响，包括它对食物资源(底栖微藻)、竞争对手和其他底栖无脊椎动物的影响，方法有三个主要目标。首先，完成栖息地(例如，海湾与岩石点)和特定微生境(例如，缝隙与裸露岩石表面)的螺类当前在SLME中的丰度和分布的概要调查。同时，将评估特定于生境和微型生境的热环境，并记录生境/微型生境使用的年际变化。其次，现场和实验室对气温和水温的中观操作将评估微生境偏好和人口结果(例如生长、存活)的行为基础。第三，将评估群落影响(与本地岩藻争夺微藻食物和住所以及对固着物种的影响)。总体而言，审查这一入侵后果的综合方法将提供一个概念框架，用于解决气候变化导致的非土著物种范围扩大的关切，并提供关于这一沿海生态系统关键要素动态的实用知识。