Warmer Oceans Disrupt Distribution Of Shellfish Larvae - Mongabay

[hatrack]

In a study published in the Dec. 25 Early Edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists show they can predict how the distance marine larvae travel varies with ocean temperature. The say that the findings have important implications for the conservation and management of fish, shellfish and other marine species in oceans increasingly effected by climate change.

"Most marine life, including commercially important species, reproduces via larvae that drift far along ocean currents before returning to join adult populations," explained a statement from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), one of the institutions involved in the research. "The distance larvae travel before maturing, called dispersal, is directly linked to ocean temperature, the researchers found. For example, larvae from the same species travel far less in warmer waters than in colder waters."

"Temperature can alter the number and diversity of adult species in a certain area by changing where larvae end up," said lead author Mary O'Connor, a graduate student in marine ecology at UNC. "It is important to understand how a fish population is replenished if we want to attempt to manage or conserve it."

O'Connor and colleagues used data from 72 marine species to develop their dispersal model which forecasts how far larvae travel at a given temperature. "We can apply this rule to animals without having to go out and measure every species," O'Connor said. "Our general model gives us a powerful new way to study larval movement with knowledge about ocean temperature, which is much easier to come by. With models such as this, we can see what large-scale changes in ocean temperature may mean for adult populations."

EDIT

http://news.mongabay.com/2006/1225-unc.html