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Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores

As some intertidal biota presently live near their upper tolerable thermal limits when emersed, predicted hotter temperatures and an increased frequency of extreme-heat events associated with global climate change may challenge the survival and persistence of such species. To predict the biological...

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Autores principales: Janetzki, Nathan, Benkendorff, Kirsten, Fairweather, Peter G.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: PeerJ Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7845524/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33569252
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10712
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author Janetzki, Nathan
Benkendorff, Kirsten
Fairweather, Peter G.
author_facet Janetzki, Nathan
Benkendorff, Kirsten
Fairweather, Peter G.
author_sort Janetzki, Nathan
collection PubMed
description As some intertidal biota presently live near their upper tolerable thermal limits when emersed, predicted hotter temperatures and an increased frequency of extreme-heat events associated with global climate change may challenge the survival and persistence of such species. To predict the biological ramifications of climate change on rocky seashores, ecologists have collected baseline rock temperature data, which has shown substrate temperature is heterogenous in the rocky intertidal zone. A multitude of factors may affect rock temperature, although the potential roles of boulder surface (upper versus lower), lithology (rock type) and minerology have been largely neglected to date. Consequently, a common-garden experiment using intertidal boulders of six rock types tested whether temperature characteristics differed among rock types, boulder surfaces, and whether temperature characteristics were associated with rock mineralogy. The temperature of the upper and lower surfaces of all six rock types was heterogeneous at the millimetre to centimetre scale. Three qualitative patterns of temperature difference were identified on boulder surfaces: gradients; mosaics; and limited heterogeneity. The frequency of occurrence of these temperature patterns was heavily influenced by cloud cover. Upper surfaces were generally hotter than lower surfaces, plus purple siltstone and grey siltstone consistently had the hottest temperatures and white limestone and quartzite the coolest. Each rock type had unique mineralogy, with maximum temperatures correlated with the highest metallic oxide and trace metal content of rocks. These baseline data show that rock type, boulder surface and mineralogy all contribute to patterns of heterogenous substrate temperature, with the geological history of rocky seashores potentially influencing the future fate of species and populations under various climate change scenarios.
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spelling pubmed-78455242021-02-09 Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores Janetzki, Nathan Benkendorff, Kirsten Fairweather, Peter G. PeerJ Ecology As some intertidal biota presently live near their upper tolerable thermal limits when emersed, predicted hotter temperatures and an increased frequency of extreme-heat events associated with global climate change may challenge the survival and persistence of such species. To predict the biological ramifications of climate change on rocky seashores, ecologists have collected baseline rock temperature data, which has shown substrate temperature is heterogenous in the rocky intertidal zone. A multitude of factors may affect rock temperature, although the potential roles of boulder surface (upper versus lower), lithology (rock type) and minerology have been largely neglected to date. Consequently, a common-garden experiment using intertidal boulders of six rock types tested whether temperature characteristics differed among rock types, boulder surfaces, and whether temperature characteristics were associated with rock mineralogy. The temperature of the upper and lower surfaces of all six rock types was heterogeneous at the millimetre to centimetre scale. Three qualitative patterns of temperature difference were identified on boulder surfaces: gradients; mosaics; and limited heterogeneity. The frequency of occurrence of these temperature patterns was heavily influenced by cloud cover. Upper surfaces were generally hotter than lower surfaces, plus purple siltstone and grey siltstone consistently had the hottest temperatures and white limestone and quartzite the coolest. Each rock type had unique mineralogy, with maximum temperatures correlated with the highest metallic oxide and trace metal content of rocks. These baseline data show that rock type, boulder surface and mineralogy all contribute to patterns of heterogenous substrate temperature, with the geological history of rocky seashores potentially influencing the future fate of species and populations under various climate change scenarios. PeerJ Inc. 2021-01-26 /pmc/articles/PMC7845524/ /pubmed/33569252 http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10712 Text en ©2021 Janetzki et al. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, reproduction and adaptation in any medium and for any purpose provided that it is properly attributed. For attribution, the original author(s), title, publication source (PeerJ) and either DOI or URL of the article must be cited.
spellingShingle Ecology
Janetzki, Nathan
Benkendorff, Kirsten
Fairweather, Peter G.
Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
title Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
title_full Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
title_fullStr Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
title_full_unstemmed Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
title_short Rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
title_sort rocks of different mineralogy show different temperature characteristics: implications for biodiversity on rocky seashores
topic Ecology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7845524/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33569252
http://dx.doi.org/10.7717/peerj.10712
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