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Reproductive physiology, temperature and biogeography: the role of fertilization in determining the distribution of the barnacle Semibalanus balanoides

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 April 2017

Sam Crickenberger*
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA
David S. Wethey
Affiliation:
Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: S. Crickenberger, Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA. email: scricke@gmail.com
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Abstract

Marine benthic populations are dependent on early life-history stages surviving multiple population bottlenecks. Failure at one or several of these bottlenecks can alter species’ patterns of distribution and abundance. The barnacle Semibalanus balanoides is found along temperate and sub-arctic shorelines of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Over the past century the southern range limits of S. balanoides have shifted hundreds of kilometres poleward on both coasts of the Atlantic. Here we tested if temperature limits fertilization and used these data, along with those from previous studies, to create mechanistic biogeographic models to understand which potential population bottlenecks in the early life-history of S. balanoides influence its distribution and abundance. In the western Atlantic survival of new recruits is probably more important in setting the southern range limit than the effects of temperature on early life-history stages because fertilization, brooding and the probability of larval release matching phytoplankton availability were all predicted to be high near the historical range edge. Phytoplankton mismatch may partially explain the ephemeral nature of S. balanoides in some parts of the English Channel. Further south along the coast of France predicted brooding success was reduced in a pattern consistent with historical range shifts in this region. Within Galicia, Spain fertilization was predicted to be low near the southern limit, and likely plays an important role in setting this range edge. Mismatches between phytoplankton abundance and larval release in Galicia may further limit reproductive success within this region.

Information

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2017 
Figure 0

Fig. 1. Distribution and abundance of Semibalanus balanoides near the equatorward range limits in the eastern Atlantic (A) between 1854 and 1916 (Darwin, 1854; Fischer, 1872; Pilsbry, 1916); (B) between 1948 and 1963 (Southward & Crisp, 1954, 1956; Fischer-Piette & Prenant, 1956; Fischer-Piette & Prenant, 1957; Ardré, 1958; Crisp & Southward, 1958; Crisp & Fischer-Piette, 1959; Fischer-Piette, 1963; Southward, 1967; Simkanin et al., 2005); (C) between 1997 and 2010 (Jenkins et al., 2001; Simkanin et al., 2005; Wethey & Woodin, 2008; Herbert et al., 2009; Mieszkowska, 2011; Wethey et al., 2011; Rognstad et al., 2014; NBN, 2016); and (D) between 2011 and 2014 (T.J. Hilbish and D.S. Wethey, unpublished data; Herbert et al., 2009 locations unchanged in the eastern English Channel S.J. Hawkins, pers. comm.; NBN, 2016). Distribution and abundance of S. balanoides in the western Atlantic (E) between 1854 and 1916 (Darwin, 1854; Pilsbry, 1916); (F) between 1942 and 1963 (McDougall, 1943; Wells et al., 1960; Jones et al., 2012); (G) in 2007 (Jones et al., 2012); and (H) in 2015 (S. Crickenberger, unpublished data). Locations without circles were not surveyed and may or may not contain S. balanoides. For example, we were unable to obtain density data for S. balanoides in Ireland between 2011 and 2014. ACFORN density scales after Crisp & Southward, 1958: A, abundant; C, common; F, frequent; O, occasional; R, rare; N, none.

Figure 1

Table 1. Power function regressions (ln(t) = ln(a) + b ln(SST)) examining the relationship between temperature and embryonic development and temperature and larval development for Semibalanus balanoides (t = length of development in days; a = intercept; b = slope; SST = sea surface temperature; r = correlation coefficient; P = P-value).

Figure 2

Fig. 2. Back-transformed mean (±SE) fraction of fertilized Semibalanus balanoides on each sampling date. Letters represent significant differences (P < 0.05) in the fraction of fertilized barnacles on the last sampling date.

Figure 3

Fig. 3. Back-transformed mean (±SE) fraction of fertilized Semibalanus balanoides on 26 January 2015 from barnacles maintained at 19°C and then either kept at 19°C or transferred to 10°C on 1 December 2014. The fraction of fertilized barnacles was not significantly different between the two treatments (P > 0.05). In the lamellae that were fertilized, those that remained at 19°C did not contain viable embryos. Lamellae from barnacles that were transferred from 19 to 10°C contained embryos that were eyed and regular in appearance.

Figure 4

Fig. 4. Predicted fraction of fertilized Semibalanus balanoides in the (A) western Atlantic and (D) eastern Atlantic, predicted brooding success in the (B) western Atlantic and (E) eastern Atlantic, and predicted total reproductive success in the (C) western Atlantic and (F) eastern Atlantic between 1870 and 2015. Fertilization contours at 50% predicted fertilization. Brooding and total reproductive success contours at recruitment levels of 25 (solid line), 4 (short dashes), and 1 (long dashes) recruits per 100 cm2 corresponding to nearest neighbour distances of 1, 2.5 and 5 cm respectively. Historical southern range limits in the western Atlantic (white squares), and in the eastern Atlantic in Galicia (white circles) and France (white triangles). Black lines match predictions to corresponding locations on the coastline at 1 degree latitude intervals.

Figure 5

Table 2. Overall accuracy as a measure of predictive accuracy for each biogeographic model in each region and year for each recruitment threshold (25, 4 and 1 recruit per 100 cm2). Cases where predictions were not significantly different from measured recruitment are in bold (2 × 2 contingency table, P > 0.05).

Figure 6

Fig. 5. Predicted per cent success of early life-history stages of Semibalanus balanoides between 1998 and 2015 in the western and eastern Atlantic at recruitment levels of 1, 4 and 25 recruits per 100 cm2 corresponding to nearest neighbour distances of 5, 2.5 and 1 cm respectively. Predicted per cent success was calculated by multiplying total reproductive success by the probability of phytoplankton mismatch in each year, and then finding the fraction of years between 1998 and 2015 greater than or equal to each recruitment threshold. Predicted per cent success at (A) 1, (B) 4 and (C) 25 recruits per 100 cm2 in the western Atlantic, and predicted per cent success at (D) 1, (E) 4 and (F) 25 recruits per 100 cm2 in the eastern Atlantic.

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