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Ken Sebens on coral in Marine Ecology Progress Series

Thursday, January 5, 2017 - 14:00

ABSTRACT: Reductions in body size are hypothesized to be a universal response to climate warming, yet the proximate causes of change remain unresolved. In this study, we combined field evidence and demographic models to explore mechanisms relevant to temperature-related declines in the body size of an ectotherm exhibiting indeterminate growth. Our field data demonstrate that the body size of cup corals Balanophyllia elegans has decreased by ~35% over nearly 4 decades (1969-2007), during which seawater temperatures have increased by 0.6°C in the San Juan Islands, Washington State, USA. We developed a modeling framework, based on the Arrhenius equation and temperature-size theory, to explore the thermal dependence of maximum body size. Our models identified the growth rate of corals as a key demographic leverage point for changes in maximum body size, but temperature alone was likely insufficient to cause the observed magnitude of change. Our case study provides a simple template for integrating detailed demographic data with predictions derived from the temperature-size theory, in order to evaluate empirically the magnitude of body size decline in the context of climate warming. 

Author Info: 

Robin Elahi1,*, Kenneth P. Sebens2, Giulio A. De Leo1 

1Hopkins Marine Station, Stanford University, Pacific Grove, CA 93940, USA (*Biology PhD, '12)
2Department of Biology and Friday Harbor Laboratories, University of Washington, Friday Harbor, WA 98250, USA

Read full paper in the Marine Ecology Progress Series(link is external)

Fields of interest: