SS38 From Molecules to Ecosystems: A Hierarchy of Mussel Biology and Ecology (Spatial and Temporal Connections)
Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Time: 11:30:00 AM
Location: Cimarron
Helmuth, B, S, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, helmuth@biol.sc.edu
QUANTIFYING THERMAL STRESS IN INTERTIDAL MUSSELS: LINKING CLIMATE AND PHYSIOLOGY THROUGH BIOPHYSICS
The geographic and intertidal distributions of the mussel Mytilus spp. are thought to be strongly affected by levels of thermal stress. However, we know surprisingly little of what patterns in mussel body temperatures are in space and time. Specifically, while the temperature of an intertidal mussel closely approximates that of the surrounding water during high tide, during aerial exposure at low tide its body temperature is driven by multiple, interacting climatic factors. Mussel body temperatures were measured at a site in central California for a period of two years, at intervals of 5-10 minutes. Body temperatures were only very poorly correlated with air temperatures, and differed substantially from temperature data recorded by adjacent loggers (Tidbits) placed directly on the rock surface or within mussel beds. These results indicate that multiple climatic factors must be considered when estimating the effects of climate, and specifically climate change, on the physiology of intertidal mussels. I will present a heat budget model, derived from thermal engineering methods, which generates estimates of body temperature based on climatic data.
SS38 From Molecules to Ecosystems: A Hierarchy of Mussel Biology and Ecology (Spatial and Temporal Connections)
Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Time: 11:30:00 AM
Location: Cimarron
Helmuth, B, S, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, helmuth@biol.sc.edu
QUANTIFYING THERMAL STRESS IN INTERTIDAL MUSSELS: LINKING CLIMATE AND PHYSIOLOGY THROUGH BIOPHYSICS
The geographic and intertidal distributions of the mussel Mytilus spp. are thought to be strongly affected by levels of thermal stress. However, we know surprisingly little of what patterns in mussel body temperatures are in space and time. Specifically, while the temperature of an intertidal mussel closely approximates that of the surrounding water during high tide, during aerial exposure at low tide its body temperature is driven by multiple, interacting climatic factors. Mussel body temperatures were measured at a site in central California for a period of two years, at intervals of 5-10 minutes. Body temperatures were only very poorly correlated with air temperatures, and differed substantially from temperature data recorded by adjacent loggers (Tidbits) placed directly on the rock surface or within mussel beds. These results indicate that multiple climatic factors must be considered when estimating the effects of climate, and specifically climate change, on the physiology of intertidal mussels. I will present a heat budget model, derived from thermal engineering methods, which generates estimates of body temperature based on climatic data.
SS38 From Molecules to Ecosystems: A Hierarchy of Mussel Biology and Ecology (Spatial and Temporal Connections)
Date: Tuesday, February 13, 2001, Time: 11:30:00 AM
Location: Cimarron
Helmuth, B, S, University of South Carolina, Columbia, USA, helmuth@biol.sc.edu
QUANTIFYING THERMAL STRESS IN INTERTIDAL MUSSELS: LINKING CLIMATE AND PHYSIOLOGY THROUGH BIOPHYSICS
The geographic and intertidal distributions of the mussel Mytilus spp. are thought to be strongly affected by levels of thermal stress. However, we know surprisingly little of what patterns in mussel body temperatures are in space and time. Specifically, while the temperature of an intertidal mussel closely approximates that of the surrounding water during high tide, during aerial exposure at low tide its body temperature is driven by multiple, interacting climatic factors. Mussel body temperatures were measured at a site in central California for a period of two years, at intervals of 5-10 minutes. Body temperatures were only very poorly correlated with air temperatures, and differed substantially from temperature data recorded by adjacent loggers (Tidbits) placed directly on the rock surface or within mussel beds. These results indicate that multiple climatic factors must be considered when estimating the effects of climate, and specifically climate change, on the physiology of intertidal mussels. I will present a heat budget model, derived from thermal engineering methods, which generates estimates of body temperature based on climatic data.
