Bottom-up trophic control of recruitment in marine invertebrates with indirect development: barnacles as a case-study

• Grant number: 13/01446-2
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: October 01, 2013 - September 30, 2015
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Principal researcher: Augusto Alberto Valero Flores
• Grantee: Augusto Alberto Valero Flores
• Home Institution: Centro de Biologia Marinha (CEBIMAR). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Sebastião , SP, Brazil
• Assoc. researchers: Antonio Carlos Marques ; Philippe St-Onge ; Réjean Tremblay
• Associated grant(s): 13/50903-7 - A comparative study on the role of bottom-up control on the recruitment of marine invertebrates between temperate and sub-tropical regions: using barnacles as a case study, AP.R

Abstract

Recent contributions have indicated that larval retention in coastal marine invertebrates is far more frequent that suggested by physical transport mechanisms. Hence, local processes, from unit to tens of km, may largely determine the structure and persistence of populations. Barnacles are dominant organisms in the rocky intertidal and, as filter feeders, also an important energetic link between the pelagic and benthic habitat. In the tropics, nearshore food supply may affect the performance of larvae and adults, the latter also prone to critical heat stress during summer months. Due to space limitation in the intertidal zone, larvae need to store energy in their final lecithotrophic stage as to allow the search and inspection of sufficient substrate area as to allow settlement at a spot where development to adulthood is favored. The objective of this project is to understand how benthic adult stocks respond to environmental change as to maximize their fitness, in terms of production of viable recruits, i.e. those surviving to the adult stage. Three main tasks are proposed, emphasizing (i) resource allocation strategies to maximize reproductive output in varying conditions of food supply and heat stress, (ii) effects of larval quality on substrate selection and post-settlement performance, and (iii) mesoscale variation of larval quality and pelagic nutrient status, their relationship, and its correspondence with patterns of genetic population structure across their natural distribution. Results will be used to propose a more refined model of recruitment regulation in tropical marine invertebrates. (AU)

Scientific publications

(5)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

LEAL, INES; BOHN, KATRIN; HAWKINS, STEPHEN J.; JENKINS, STUART R.; FLORES, V, AUGUSTO A.; TREMBLAY, REJEAN. Lipid allocation in late-stage barnacle larvae from subtropical and temperate waters. MARINE ECOLOGY-PROGRESS SERIES, v. 661, p. 147-161, MAR 4 2021. Web of Science Citations: 0.

KASTEN, PAULA; TREMBLAY, REJEAN; FLORES, AUGUSTO A. V. Mismatched seasonal patterns of larval production and quality in subtropical barnacle populations along a coastal trophic gradient. ESTUARINE COASTAL AND SHELF SCIENCE, v. 224, p. 43-50, AUG 31 2019. Web of Science Citations: 0.

KASTEN, PAULA; JENKINS, STUART R.; TREMBLAY, REJEAN; FLORES, AUGUSTO A. V. Evidence for enhanced late-stage larval quality, not survival, through maternal carry-over effects in a space monopolizing barnacle. Hydrobiologia, v. 830, n. 1, p. 277-286, MAR 2019. Web of Science Citations: 1.

BARBOSA, ANDREIA C. C.; GOMES, CRISTAL C.; PEREIRA, GILBERTO C.; BUENO, MARILIA; FLORES, AUGUSTO A. V. Local biological drivers, not remote forcing, predict settlement rate to a subtropical barnacle population. Marine Ecology Progress Series, v. 543, p. 201-208, FEB 3 2016. Web of Science Citations: 9.

FREUCHET, FLORIAN; TREMBLAY, REJEAN; FLORES, AUGUSTO A. V. Interacting environmental stressors modulate reproductive output and larval performance in a tropical intertidal barnacle. Marine Ecology Progress Series, v. 532, p. 161-175, JUL 21 2015. Web of Science Citations: 6.