Instructor: Dr. Brian Helmuth; EWS 615; 777-2100; helmuth@biol.sc.edu

The theme of this semester’s Helmuth Lab meeting will be physiological studies of the effects of climate change. Specifically, we will address the question, when do the

"details" of physiological performance matter to understanding and predicting the

ecological consequences of climate change? Implicit in this question is an investigation of the role of biophysics (thermal energy budgets/biomechanics) as a tool for linking studies at the physiological and ecological scales. In other words, if/when it is necessary to understand the mechanisms of physiological response to climate change in order to predict population and ecosystem scale responses, then how can biophysics inform such studies, and what are the limitations of this approach? We will further explore the role that biophysics and physiology might be able to play in the design and implementation of marine reserves.

Each participant will take at least one turn leading a discussion of the paper(s) chosen for that week. Students may register for 1 credit of Pass/fail; final grade determinations will be based on participation in discussions and on presentation. Typically, the discussion leader will distribute required readings in class the week before the class which she/he will lead. I will assist undergraduate participants in the selection of papers; graduate students are expected to locate papers which not only address the theme of the class, but which also are relevant to their our research projects.

Suggested readings:

Adams, P. (2002). Salt marshes in a time of change. Env. Conserv . 29: 39-61.

Beck, M. W., and M. Odaya. (2001). Ecoregional planning in marine environments: Identifying priority sites for conservation in the northern Gulf of Mexico . Aquat. Conserv . 11:235-242.

Bertness, M. D., and P. Ewanchuk (2002). Latitudinal and climate-driven variation in the strength and nature of biological interactions in New England salt marshes. Oecologia 132:392-401.

Bertness, M. D., G. H. Leonard, J. M. Levine, and J. F. Bruno (1999). Climate-driven interactions among rocky intertidal organisms caught between a rock and a hot place. Oecologia 120: 446-450.

Castilla, J. C. (2000). Roles of experimental marine ecology in coastal management and conservation. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 250:3-21.

Davis, A.J., J.H. Lawton, B. Shorrocks and L.S. Jenksinson. (1998). Individualistic species responses invalidate simple physiological models of community dynamics under global environmental change . J. Animal. Ecol. 67:600-612.

Dunson, W. A., and J. Travis. 1991. The role of abiotic factors in community organization. Am. Nat. 138:1067-1091.

Engle, V. D., and J. K. Summers. 1999. Latitudinal gradients in benthic community composition in Western Atlantic estuaries. J. Biogeogr . 26:1007-1023.

Fields, P. A., J. B. Graham, R. H. Rosenblatt, and G. N. Somero (1993). Effects of expected global climate change on marine faunas. Trends in Ecology and Evolution 8:361-367.

Finlayson, C. M. (1999). Coastal wetlands and climate change: The role of governance and science. Aquat. Conserv . 9:621-626.

Gaylord, B., and S. D. Gaines (2000). Temperature or transport? Range limits in marine species mediated solely by flow. Am. Nat. 155: 769-789.

Halpin, P.M., C. Sorte, G.E. Hofmann and B.A. Menge (2002). Patterns of variation in levels of Hsp70 in natural populations at local to geographic scales. Integrative and Comparative Biology 42(4):110-112

Halpin, P. (1997). Global climate change and natural-area protection: Management responses and research directions. Ecol. Appl. 7:828-843.

Hamilton, P. V. (1978). Intertidal distribution and long-term movements of Littorina irrorata Mollusca Gastropoda. Mar. Biol. 46:49-58.

Hodkinson, I.D. (1999). Species response to global environmental change or why ecophysiological models are important: a reply to Davis et al . J. Animal Ecol. 68: 1259- 1262.

Huey, R. B. (1991). Physiological consequences of habitat selection. Am. Nat. 137: S91-S115.

Kneib, R. T. (1984). Patterns of invertebrate distribution and abundance in the intertidal salt marsh: causes and questions. Estuaries 7:392-412.

Lubchenco, J., S. A. Navarrete, B. N. Tissot, and J. C. Castilla. (1993). Possible ecological consequences to global climate change: nearshore benthic biota of Northeastern Pacific coastal ecosystems, p. 147-166. In H. A. Mooney, E. R. Fuentes and B. I. Kronberg [eds.], Earth System Responses to Global Change. Academic Press, Inc.

Parmesan, C. and G. Yohe. (2003). A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems . Nature 421:37-42.

Ray, G. C. 1999. Coastal-marine protected areas: Agonies of choice. Aquat. Conserv. 9 :607-614.

Root, T.L., J.T. Price, K. R. Hall, S. H. Schneider, C. Rosenzweigk and J. A. Pounds. (2003). Fingerprints of global warming on wild animals and plants . Nature 421: 57-60.

Sanford, E. (2002). The feeding, growth, and energetics of two rocky intertidal predators (Pisaster ochraceus and Nucella canaliculata ) under water temperatures simulating episodic upwelling. J. Exp. Mar. Biol. Ecol. 273:119-218.

Schneider, S. H., and T. L. Root. (1996). Ecological implications of climate change will include surprises. Biodivers. and Conserv. 5:1109-1119.

Southward, A. J. , S. J. Hawkins, M. T. Burrows, (1995). Seventy years’ observations of changes in distribution and abundance of zooplankton and intertidal organisms in the western English channel in relation to rising sea temperature . Journal of Thermal Biology 20: 127-155.

Underwood, A. J., and M. G. Chapman. (1996). Scales of spatial patterns of distribution of intertidal invertebrates. Oecologia 107:212-224.

Walther, G.-R., E. Post, P. Convey, A. Menzel, C. Parmesan, J. C. Beebee Trevor, J.-M. Fromentin, O. Hoegh-Guldberg, and F. Bairlein. (2002). Ecological responses to recent climate change. Nature 416:389-395.