Oyster larvae used for ecosystem restoration benefit from increased thermal fluctuation

Katharina Alter*, Pascalle Jacobs, Annalisa Delre, Bianka Rasch, Catharina J.M. Philippart, Myron A. Peck

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

A bottleneck in restoring self-sustaining beds of the European oyster (Ostrea edulis) is the successful development and settlement of larvae to bottom habitats. These processes are largely governed by temperature but a mechanistic understanding of larval performance across ecologically relevant temperatures is lacking. We reared larvae at low (20–21 °C) and high (20–24 °C) fluctuating temperatures and applied short-term exposures of larvae to temperatures between 16 and 33 °C to assess vital rates and thermal coping ranges. Larval thermal preference was between 25 and 30 °C for both rearing treatments which corresponded with optimum temperatures for oxygen consumption rates and locomotion. Larvae had 5.5-fold higher settling success, however, when reared at the high compared to the low fluctuating temperatures. Higher mean and periods of increased temperature, as projected in a future climate, may therefore enhance recruitment success of O. edulis in northern European habitats.

Original languageEnglish
Article number115750
Number of pages12
JournalMarine Pollution Bulletin
Volume198
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jan 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors

Funding

This research is a contribution to the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 869300 (Climate Change and Future Marine Ecosystem Services and Biodiversity-FutureMARES) . This study was also supported by the project De Rijke Noordzee, stichting De Noordzee, stichting Ark Nature Development and the regional subsidy grant by Zeeland in Stroomversnelling. We thank Eveline Garritsen-van Arnhem for support in the laboratory.

FundersFunder number
European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme869300
Project De Rijke Noordzee
Stichting de Noordzee
Stichting Ark Nature Development
Zeeland in Stroomversnelling

    Keywords

    • Ecosystem restoration
    • Flat oyster
    • Heat waves
    • Ontogeny
    • Respiration
    • Thermal performance curve

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