Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology最新文献

{"title":"Effects of predator density on the predation efficiency of the dogwhelk (Reishia clavigera)","authors":"Meng-Huan Bao,&nbsp;Yun-Wei Dong","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152040","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Species interactions have long been recognized as essential in the organization of communities, and the density of predators is critical in the interaction between predator and prey. Our study explores how predator density affects predation efficiency in a typical intertidal predator (dogwhelk <em>Reishia clavigera</em>) - prey (mussel <em>Mytilus galloprovincialis</em>) system. Three treatments with different predator densities were established: low-density treatment (LD, one dogwhelk/dm²), medium-density treatment (MD, four dogwhelks/dm²), and high-density treatment (HD, eight dogwhelks/dm²). The number frequency of dogwhelks on the mussel, prey searching and handling time, feeding success rate, and shell thickness of mussels were calculated. The results showed that the presence of a higher density of predators facilitated more successful predation. The higher the density of dogwhelk, the less time dogwhelks spend on predation. The predation methods of dogwhelks, either drilling holes or prying open, did not rely on predators' density, but the dogwhelks preferred to drill holes at the thin edge of the mussel shells. This study highlights the impacts of predator density on predation efficiency in the intertidal community.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152040"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141593131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Effect of prolonged seawater warming on Zostera marina ecotypes of the northeast Pacific","authors":"Avia L. Breiter ,&nbsp;Cameron T. Sokoloski ,&nbsp;Sylvia Yang ,&nbsp;Jeffrey L. Gaeckle","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152036","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152036","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Seagrass meadows are complex, multi-species ecosystems that are facing increasing seawater temperatures with climate change. Previous experimental studies have imposed relatively short-term elevated seawater temperatures for understanding stress tolerance and have revealed a disparate range of responses by the seagrasses themselves, as well as by organisms that inhabit seagrass meadows. Variation in response may be due to differences in environmental context, population-level characteristics, temperature regime, and metrics investigated. To tease apart environmental versus intrinsic population factors, we conducted a ‘common garden’ experiment with eelgrass (<em>Zostera marina</em> L.) from four populations of the greater Puget Sound region (Washington, USA) to test effects of slightly elevated seawater temperatures (+2.5 °C or + 5.6 °C compared to ambient) over long durations (1–2 years), to emulate shifts in mean temperature as predicted for climate change. We measured a comprehensive suite of demographic and morphological traits to be inclusive of traits measured amongst other studies, as well as wasting disease and epiphyte characteristics. We found that, under elevated temperatures, <em>Z. marina</em> exhibited enhanced response or trade-offs in demographic and morphological characteristics depending on season, magnitude of temperature increase, duration of elevated temperature, and donor population. Under +2.5 °C conditions, <em>Z. marina</em> exhibited primarily enhanced responses, such as production and maintenance of longer leaves year-round, and more, wider leaves and increased shoot production during spring. Under +5.6 °C conditions, aboveground morphological responses were even more enhanced and lasted longer, but with trade-offs with shoot production and maintenance of leaf tissue during winter months, and only in the first year. By the second year of exposure to +5.6 °C conditions, plants were not able to maintain increased shoot production rates. These results suggest <em>Z. marina</em> response to slightly elevated temperatures may be modulated by seasonal light availability, so enhanced responses may be only temporary and could precede longer-term decline within a small margin of temperature increase if conditions persist &gt;1 year. Additionally, treatment-by-site interactions did occur, under higher elevated temperature conditions, suggesting resilience may vary by ecotype. Lastly, plants in heated treatments had fewer epiphytes and exhibited seasonal differences in eelgrass wasting disease, suggesting seawater warming could impact eelgrass meadows as whole ecosystems. Further research is needed to understand how these responses may differ across latitudinal gradients, temperature regimes, and multi-species assemblages, and also implications for carbon cycling and habitat provisioning ecosystem functions of eelgrass meadows.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152036"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141593130","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life history and early ontogeny determine vertical swimming behaviors in the larvae of Caribbean corals","authors":"Benjamin D. Limer ,&nbsp;Olivia Payne ,&nbsp;Aran Brancato ,&nbsp;Molly Mitchell ,&nbsp;Caitlyn Abu-Kubie ,&nbsp;Joana Figueiredo ,&nbsp;Daniel M. Holstein","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152035","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Marine larval dispersal is strongly influenced by ocean currents, but larvae themselves possess traits and behaviors that can curtail or augment dispersal, and affect their settlement. Energetics and metabolism, buoyancy, and swimming can all influence the ultimate fate of marine larvae through biophysical interactions with the environment. These biophysical interactions can be difficult to observe in situ, and ecologists often resort to biophysical models to predict dispersal pathways and estimate connectivity. These models aim to assist in marine reserve design and conservation; however, larval propagules have often been modeled as passive particles, which ignores the influence of the often complex early life-history of larvae on their own dispersal. Here we provide a systematic survey of vertical larval swimming behaviors in six species of Caribbean coral larvae, throughout their early ontogeny. We deployed novel larval observation systems ex situ to obtain continuous video footage of larval vertical velocity and behavior, tracked larvae using computer vision, and calculated time-series of vertical velocity distributions. Results add depth and resolution to the dramatic contrast in swimming behaviors between brooded and broadcast spawned coral larvae. In the absence of settlement cues, brooders often settled quickly post-planulation and exhibited mainly downward swimming behaviors throughout the first two weeks of life. Though they exhibited within-cohort variation, in the absence of settlement cues broadcast spawners typically continued swimming upward even after attaining competency. Behaviors in brooded larvae suggest that there is strong pressure to settle upon planulation. However, observations of detachment and continued downward swimming suggest an active search for suitable habitat. Oppositely, broadcast larvae were observed to prolong dispersal in the absence of settlement cues. Velocity distributions obtained in this study can be used parameterize propagule behaviors in biophysical models to examine the effects of behaviors on connectivity and larval retention in high-resolution coastal hydrodynamic models.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152035"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141575247","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Temperate coastal fish shows resilience to extreme low pH in early larval stages","authors":"Carla Edworthy ,&nbsp;Nicola C. James ,&nbsp;Warren M. Potts ,&nbsp;Murray I. Duncan ,&nbsp;Sam Dupont","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152037","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152037","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Fishes have shown varying responses to the decline in seawater pH associated with ocean acidification. Coastal marine species inhabit characteristically dynamic environments which requires physiological adaptation to variability, including fluctuations in pH and associated carbonate chemistry parameters. Our study assessed the response of the early life stages (postflexion) of a common coastal fish species (<em>Diplodus capensis</em>) that is found in coastal nearshore and estuarine habitats along the South African coastline. We assessed their metabolic and behavioural response to a range of pH conditions which covered a high pH (8.02), the lowest pH that they are naturally exposed to (7.75) as well as extremely low pH levels (∼7.75–7.27) exceeding their current range of exposure, which may occur with future coastal acidification. Our findings suggest that this species is metabolically tolerant of acute low pH conditions (down to 7.27 pH) showing no changes in either routine or active metabolic rates. Although our study identified a slight increase in swimming activity in <em>D. capensis</em> larvae exposed to low pH, there was no change in feeding activity. These results suggest that this species may have the physiological capacity to withstand the present and future high pH variability associated with its environments, in the absence of other stressors and ecological interactions. However, the increased swimming activity at low pH may translate into downstream ecological impacts, for which the mechanisms need to be assessed with further research.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152037"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098124000522/pdfft?md5=2fdad777713ea91cee296137f982e8f6&pid=1-s2.0-S0022098124000522-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141542436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Bed-scale rockweed harvest findings are not altered by study critiques, a response to Seeley et al.","authors":"Elliot M. Johnston ,&nbsp;Hannah N. Mittelstaedt ,&nbsp;Laura A. Braun ,&nbsp;Jessica F. Muhlin ,&nbsp;Brian J. Olsen ,&nbsp;Hannah M. Webber ,&nbsp;Amanda J. Klemmer","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152039","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Seeley et al., 2024 (Comment: A reexamination of Johnston et al., 2023, bed-scale impact and recovery of a commercially important intertidal seaweed. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 574) describe a number of reasons that they believe our study's experimental design was flawed and our inferential conclusions were incorrect. We believe that these claims are the result of misunderstandings of the objectives behind our sampling design and statistical analyses. Throughout this response to Seeley et al., we reiterate key objectives of our study design: examining rockweed harvest at a whole-bed scale, realistically capturing the effects of current commercial rockweed harvest methods in Maine, and using coastwide site averages to estimate effect sizes of rockweed harvest. The first claim by Seeley et al. that our study design severely undersampled rockweed beds ignores established sampling methodologies in rockweed research. The suggestion that our sampling design resulted in impact sites that were <em>de facto</em> control sites is not supported by our analyses that showed greater declines in mean rockweed height and biomass at impact sites relative to control sites. In response to their second claim that rockweed companies had control of key elements of our study design and execution, we detail our specific approaches to lessen any possibility for such conflicts to bias our findings. In the final section of our response, we present power analyses in support of our Before-After Control-Impact study design and we highlight the statistically significant effects of treatment on rockweed biomass that contradict Seeley et al.'s claim that we drew conclusions about biomass recovery based solely on large <em>p</em>-values.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152039"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141542435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Spatial and temporal variation in the diversity and structure of understorey macrofaunal assemblages within Laminaria hyperborea forests in the northeast Atlantic","authors":"Hannah S. Earp ,&nbsp;Dan A. Smale ,&nbsp;Nathan G. King ,&nbsp;Jacob Bestwick ,&nbsp;Brandon Fazel ,&nbsp;Pippa J. Moore","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152034","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Kelp species function as foundation organisms along almost one third of the world's coastlines, where they underpin diverse and productive forest habitats. The three-dimensional structure of the forest modifies local environmental conditions, which in some regions allows rich understorey macroalgal and macrofaunal assemblages to develop. These understorey assemblages, however, represent somewhat overlooked components of kelp forest ecosystems, with fundamental information on their structure and the processes that shape them often lacking. Here, we used an underwater suction sampler to characterize understorey macroalgal and macrofaunal assemblages within <em>Laminaria hyperborea</em> forests across the mid northeast Atlantic (United Kingdom). Specifically, we investigated spatial and temporal variation in the structure, abundance, diversity, and evenness of assemblages at twelve sites nested in four regions of the UK distributed along a 9° latitudinal gradient that encompassed a ∼ 2.5 °C gradient in mean sea surface temperature. Collectively, the samples comprised of 2.4 kg of understorey macroalgae from five functional groups, and 65,323 macrofaunal individuals from 179 taxa, demonstrating that understorey assemblages represent important repositories of biodiversity within coastal marine systems. Univariate assemblage metrics exhibited significant site-level variation, while the multivariate structure of assemblages exhibited both site and regional-level variation, and all metrics exhibited significant temporal variation. The observed variation was attributed in part to complex interactions between sea surface temperature, wave exposure and habitat structure, while the high site-level variation suggests that unquantified local-scale processes are also important influencers of understorey assemblages. Given that kelp forests are becoming increasingly threatened by multiple stressors, our results provide important evidence to support enhanced management of kelp forests, as well as baseline information that can serve as a benchmark to monitor, restore, and ultimately conserve these forests and their associated ecosystem services.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152034"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098124000492/pdfft?md5=7f56e4c5c0158a99a4c80bb01a9ff1ea&pid=1-s2.0-S0022098124000492-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141484429","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Physiological sensitivities to hypoxia differ between co-occurring juvenile flatfishes","authors":"Juliana C. Cornett ,&nbsp;Scott L. Hamilton ,&nbsp;Cheryl A. Logan","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152033","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152033","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Coastal hypoxia threatens estuarine nursery habitat for juvenile demersal fishes worldwide, and is expected to intensify with climate change. This study examines the physiological tolerances of hypoxia in two ecologically and economically important flatfish species that co-occur in a highly eutrophic estuary and biodiversity hotspot on California's central coast, the Elkhorn Slough. Juveniles of English sole (<em>Parophrys vetulus</em>) occur less frequently in areas of the slough where dissolved oxygen (DO) ≤ 4.0 mg/L O₂ compared to speckled sanddabs (<em>Citharichthys stigmaeus</em>), suggesting that English sole may be more sensitive to hypoxia. We exposed both species to an ecologically relevant, acute six-hour exposure to six DO levels ranging from ambient to severely hypoxic: 8.0, 6.0, 4.0, 3.0, 2.0, and 1.5 mg/L O₂ and measured known physiological and biochemical indicators of hypoxia stress. As DO declined, metabolic rate and aerobic scope decreased for English sole, while anaerobic activity (measured by L-lactate) and ventilation rate increased for both species. Biochemical responses to hypoxia were observed only at very low DO levels (≤ 4.0 mg/L O₂), indicating that both species appear to have a higher tolerance for relatively short-term hypoxia than other teleost fishes. Speckled sanddabs increased ventilation rate and anaerobic activity at higher DO levels than English sole, suggesting that earlier onset of compensatory mechanisms may contribute to the greater relative hypoxia tolerance in sanddabs. Examining the link between physiological and ecological thresholds for hypoxia tolerance will help determine suitable nursery habitat areas and management targets for estuarine restoration, and aid in predictions of fishery success under eutrophication and climate change.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152033"},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2024-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141484428","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reef location and season, but not recruitment substrate contour and composition, affect coral recruitment patterns","authors":"Dexter W. dela Cruz ,&nbsp;Peter L. Harrison","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152029","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152029","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Most studies have quantified coral recruitment using recruitment tiles temporarily deployed on reefs. However, the wide range of tile types used in different studies potentially influences recruitment patterns thereby hindering accurate comparisons among reef areas. We examined the effect of different tile types with different surface structure and composition on spatial (reef locations) and temporal (season) patterns of coral recruitment in the northwestern Philippines. Dead coral skeleton, terracotta, and fibre-cement tiles were deployed and retrieved quarterly over a 15-month period. In contrast to previous studies, patterns of standardized density and composition of recruits were consistent among tile types. Recruits varied spatially and were highest in Caniogan reef, followed by Cory reef and Lucero reef, suggesting that coral recruitment in the Bolinao-Anda Reef Complex (BARC) is influenced by reef location and existing coral cover. Highest recruitment was also found during the peak coral spawning season. The results of this study contrast with some previous reports which indicate that coral recruitment patterns are strongly influenced by recruitment substrate types. Our study suggests that once sufficient biological conditioning of the tile surfaces has occurred, the microbial and algal community present on the different tile surfaces are similarly conducive to larval settlement of some coral taxa.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152029"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098124000443/pdfft?md5=57e009fb856269020d4c7d79b9dce97c&pid=1-s2.0-S0022098124000443-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141424405","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Seasonal and site-specific differences in biofouling communities on Pacific oyster Mariculture farms","authors":"Brian P. Ulaski,&nbsp;Brenda Konar","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152031","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Artificial substrates are ideal for the settlement of biofouling communities. Oyster cages used in mariculture are known to provide substrate for a diversity of epibiotic organisms to settle and grow. While oyster farmers regularly clean their cages of these epibionts, diverse biofouling communities can still develop and contribute to the composition of the overall ecosystem surrounding mariculture farms. Colonization by biofouling organisms, including algae and animals, can be sudden and have rapid development. Biofouling on cages can have deleterious impacts on the farmed oysters, ultimately increasing operational expenses and decreasing farmer profits. Identifying seasonal and spatial patterns in biofouling community composition and their relationship to environmental conditions is essential for effectively addressing the impact these organisms pose. Here, we examined changes in taxonomic composition of biofouling communities over time at multiple oyster mariculture farms in the Gulf of Alaska with the intent of answering our overarching research question: Does composition of biofouling communities vary seasonally and spatially? To address this question, we took bi-monthly photographs of oyster cages from March to September of 2023 at three farms in Kachemak Bay and one sampling was done in September 2023 in Prince William Sound to assess seasonal and spatial differences in biofouling community composition. A subset of photographs taken at all sites in September were paired with scrape collections for biomass to compare surveying methods. Though there were notable differences in taxonomic resolution between the two sampling methods, both resulted in similar diversity measurements and spatial patterns of composition. Diatom mats and red filamentous algae were predominant contributors to biofouling. Additionally, the spatial differences in community variability and composition were stronger than seasonal differences, and salinity was found to best correlate with patterns in biofouling communities. Altogether, these findings have practical implications for monitoring impacts of biofouling on mariculture, as the methodological approach can be catered to specific research goals or resource constraints.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152031"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022098124000467/pdfft?md5=a71320d786fa254899eca6023fa570f7&pid=1-s2.0-S0022098124000467-main.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141424486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica) shows physiological tolerance to polyester microfibers at environmental concentrations","authors":"Hannah Haskell ,&nbsp;Coleen C. Suckling ,&nbsp;Marta Gomez-Chiarri ,&nbsp;Kelton W. McMahon ,&nbsp;Brian Preziosi ,&nbsp;Andrew J. Davies","doi":"10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jembe.2024.152032","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Significant research has shown that microplastics are ubiquitous within the marine environment, organisms are interacting with microplastics regularly, and microplastics at high concentrations can have significant impacts on organismal physiology and health. However, the potential impacts of this pervasive pollutant on organismal physiology at environmentally relevant concentrations is less well studied. To this aim, we exposed eastern oysters, <em>Crassostrea virginica</em> to daily doses (45 d total exposure) of polyester microfibers (mean ± 1 SE: length = 662 ± 2 μm; width 16 ± 1 μm, <em>n</em> = 300 fibers, 1.38 g cm⁻³ density) at environmentally relevant concentrations (0, 2, and 95 fibers L⁻¹) as well as a high exposure concentration (950 fibers L⁻¹) to represent potential future microplastic increases. We quantified physiological responses in five key parameters: somatic growth, survival rate, clearance rate, plastic accumulation in somatic tissues, and cellular energy allocation (CEA). No significant responses were observed in any of these important physiological parameters, suggesting that polyester microfibers at current environmental concentrations appear to pose minimal threat to the physiological well-being of <em>C. virginica</em> within these study conditions<em>.</em> Substantial variation was observed in the number of fibers that accumulated per oyster ranging from 0 to 58 fibers per individual. This relatively broad range of fiber accumulation demonstrates individualistic interactions between oysters and microplastics, highlighting the need for sufficient sample sizes when investigating microplastic accumulation within somatic tissues in order to capture individual variance. Our study also highlights the importance of characterizing microplastic behavior (i.e., suspension time in water) in exposure studies to better understand actual exposure patterns and experimental outcomes. Results from our study demonstrate the critical importance of considering environmental relevance, in terms of exposure concentration, polymer type and particle sinking behavior, when conducting exposure studies and interpreting potential impacts of microplastics on organismal physiology. Our work provides novel information regarding the physiological responses of <em>C. virginica</em> when exposed to environmentally relevant microplastic pollution levels. Such information is beneficial for improving the design of future exposure studies to build upon and vital for understanding the current risk microplastics may pose to marine species and developing management strategies to deal with this emerging pollutant.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":50197,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology","volume":"578 ","pages":"Article 152032"},"PeriodicalIF":2.0,"publicationDate":"2024-06-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"141328772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}