How hydrodynamics affects phenotypic plasticity on limpets? intensity vs frequency of events

Abstract

Concerns on the effects of future and ongoing climate change in the terrestrial environment and Open Ocean have been extended to intertidal habitats. One of the consequences of climate change are the increase of intensity and frequency of hydrodynamic events (e.g., tsunamis, and increase of current and wave exposure), and consequently the increased risk of dislodgement for organisms living in the intertidal zone. Thus, these aspects are herein considered with the development of mesocosm studies in a hydraulic flume to explore the effects of climate change with special emphasis to those regarding hydrodynamic forces, e.g., current flow frequency (‘chronic’ vs. ‘pulse’ events) and intensity (‘large’ vs. ‘moderate’) on key harvested species inhabiting sheltered and exposed intertidal environments (limpets of genus Fissurella). A unidirectional (current) flume (5m long x 0.3 m wide x 0.8 m deep) will be used to test the impacts of step-by-step increased current flow velocities for each limpet in sheltered and exposed environments. We predict that limpets from the wave-exposed environment will have a higher resistance to dislodgement, when compared with limpets from sheltered environments