Relative importance of physical and biological processes regulating larval settlement in rocky shore barnacles

• Grant number: 08/02030-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: August 01, 2008
• End date: July 31, 2010
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Oceanography - Biological Oceanography
• Principal Investigator: Augusto Alberto Valero Flores
• Grantee: Andreia Cristina Barbosa de Oliveira
• Host Institution: Centro de Biologia Marinha (CEBIMAR). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Sebastião , SP, Brazil

Abstract

It is widely assumed that larval settlement of intertidal marine invertebrates is mostly ruled by physical transport mechanisms. The importance of biological processes is rarely considered, despite of available evidence of adaptive behavior of larvae promoting larval retention close to parental grounds. In this project, the acorn barnacle Chthamalus bisinuatus, which is the dominant species in the rocky mid-shore along the southeastern Brazilian coast, will be used as a case-study to comparatively evaluate the role of physical environmental forcing and biological variables controlling settlement rate. Larval release will be monitored along a daily time series, during which settlement rate, tidal level anomaly and wind stress will be also recorded. By doing so, the variation of settlement rate explained by reproductive activity, and that explained by physical transport mechanisms, will be compared. In order to assess the potential of larval retention, the vertical migration patterns of larval stages will be measured according to the diel and tidal cycle.

Scientific publications

(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)

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. (08/10085-5, 13/01446-2, 08/02030-6)

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. 8-pg., 2016-02-03. (13/01446-2, 08/02030-6, 08/10085-5)