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Upper Temperature Limits of Tropical Marine Ectotherms: Global Warming Implications
Citation
Nguyen, KDT and Morley, SA and Lai, CH and Clark, MS and Tan, KS and Bates, AE and Peck, LS, Upper Temperature Limits of Tropical Marine Ectotherms: Global Warming Implications, PLoS One, 6, (12) pp. e29340. ISSN 1932-6203 (2011) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic (CC BY 2.5) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/
DOI: doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029340
Abstract
Animal physiology, ecology and evolution are affected by temperature and it is expected that community structure will be
strongly influenced by global warming. This is particularly relevant in the tropics, where organisms are already living close to
their upper temperature limits and hence are highly vulnerable to rising temperature. Here we present data on upper
temperature limits of 34 tropical marine ectotherm species from seven phyla living in intertidal and subtidal habitats. Short
term thermal tolerances and vertical distributions were correlated, i.e., upper shore animals have higher thermal tolerance
than lower shore and subtidal animals; however, animals, despite their respective tidal height, were susceptible to the same
temperature in the long term. When temperatures were raised by 1uC hour21, the upper lethal temperature range of
intertidal ectotherms was 41–52uC, but this range was narrower and reduced to 37–41uC in subtidal animals. The rate of
temperature change, however, affected intertidal and subtidal animals differently. In chronic heating experiments when
temperature was raised weekly or monthly instead of every hour, upper temperature limits of subtidal species decreased
from 40uC to 35.4uC, while the decrease was more than 10uC in high shore organisms. Hence in the long term, activity and
survival of tropical marine organisms could be compromised just 2–3uC above present seawater temperatures. Differences
between animals from environments that experience different levels of temperature variability suggest that the
physiological mechanisms underlying thermal sensitivity may vary at different rates of warming.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | Environmental Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecological Applications |
| Research Field: | Ecological Impacts of Climate Change |
| Objective Division: | Environment |
| Objective Group: | Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| Objective Field: | Marine Flora, Fauna and Biodiversity |
| Author: | Bates, AE (Dr Amanda Bates) |
| ID Code: | 76329 |
| Year Published: | 2011 |
| Web of Science® Times Cited: | 59 |
| Deposited By: | Sustainable Marine Research Collaboration |
| Deposited On: | 2012-03-05 |
| Last Modified: | 2012-06-21 |
| Downloads: | 241 View Download Statistics |
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