QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

First published online June 15, 2006
Journal of Experimental Biology 209, 2420-2431 (2006)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2006
doi: 10.1242/jeb.02258

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JEB Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Denny, M. W. Articles by Harley, C. D. G. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Denny, M. W. Articles by Harley, C. D. G.

Thermal stress on intertidal limpets: long-term hindcasts and lethal limits

Mark W. Denny^1,*, Luke P. Miller¹ and Christopher D. G. Harley^1,2

¹ Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93950, USA
² Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

^* Author for correspondence (e-mail: mwdenny{at}stanford.edu)

Accepted 6 April 2006

When coupled with long-term meteorological records, a heat-budget model for the limpet, Lottia gigantea, provides a wealth of information regarding environmental and topographic controls of body temperature in this ecologically important species. (1) The maximum body temperature predicted for any site (37.5°C) is insufficient to kill all limpets, suggesting that acute thermal stress does not set an absolute upper limit to the elevation of L. gigantea on the shore. Therefore, the upper limit must be set by behavioral responses, sublethal effects or ecological interactions. (2) Temperatures sufficient to kill limpets are reached at only a small fraction of substratum orientations and elevations and on only three occasions in 5 years. These rare predicted lethal temperatures could easily be missed in field measurements, thereby influencing the interpretation of thermal stress. (3) Body temperature is typically higher than air temperature, but maximum air temperature can nonetheless be used as an accurate predictor of maximum body temperature. Warmer air temperatures in the future may thus cause increased mortality in this intertidal species. Interpretation of the ecological effects of elevated body temperature depends strongly on laboratory measurements of thermal stress, highlighting the need for additional research on the temporal and spatial variability of thermal limits and sublethal stress. The lengthy time series of body temperatures calculated from the heat-budget model provides insight into how these physiological measurements should be conducted.

Key words: heat-budget model, intertidal zonation, thermal limits, limpet, Lottia gigantea, heat stress

Related articles in JEB:

FEELING THE HEAT

Yfke Hager
JEB 2006 209: 0. [Full Text]  

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J. Jost and B. Helmuth Morphological and Ecological Determinants of Body Temperature of Geukensia demissa, the Atlantic Ribbed Mussel, and Their Effects On Mussel Mortality Biol. Bull., October 1, 2007; 213(2): 141 - 151. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Y. Hager FEELING THE HEAT J. Exp. Biol., July 1, 2006; 209(13): i - i. [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. W. Denny and C. D. G. Harley Hot limpets: predicting body temperature in a conductance-mediated thermal system J. Exp. Biol., July 1, 2006; 209(13): 2409 - 2419. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]