Patterns of the vertical distribution limits of the limpet Patella depressa on the Portuguese coast

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Patterns of the vertical distribution limits of the limpet Patella depressa on the Portuguese coast Daniela Nobre1*, Maria I. Seabra1 and Teresa Cruz1, 2 1 Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (MARE), Portugal 2 Departamento de Biologia, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Évora, Portugal The limpet Patella depressa is a keystone species in the rocky shores of the Northeast Atlantic. Vertical distribution limits may vary spatially and temporally due to different physical and biological factors. The spatial variation on the intertidal limits of the distribution of P. depressa, as well as on the abundance of this species, was studied during the winter of 2012, in three shores (two in the north - Moledo and Gelfa - and one in the southwest - Oliveirinha - coast of Portugal). In each shore, three transects across the vertical intertidal gradient were considered; within each transect, we measured the shore height at the lower and the upper limits of P. depressa distribution (defined by the position of the last individual found in the lower and upper extremes along the transect), as well as the horizontal extension (the distance along the rock surface) between those two limits. Densities of two size classes (<2 cm and > 2 cm of maximum shell length – MSL) of limpets in 0.25 m2 were assessed in the area of the species’ greatest abundance within the same transects (n = 6 replicates). Spatial variation of the in situ temperature at the lower and the upper limits of distribution was also analyzed by deploying limpet-biomimetic sensors at both limits in all shores and transects, recording semi-continuous temperature every 15 minutes. Furthermore, the temporal variation on the shore height of the vertical distribution limits was studied in Oliveirinha in two dates (March and July 2014) along seven to ten transects, by comparing the marked locations of each limit (the position of the last individual found in the lower and upper extremes along each transect) between dates. Overall, the height of the lower limit did not vary among shores, whereas the upper limit was, on average, one meter lower in Oliveirinha compared to Moledo and Gelfa. Total abundance was four times higher in the shores of the north coast, although the density of larger limpets (> 2 cm MSL) was twenty times higher in Oliveirinha. In all shores, temperature was more variable on the upper limits than on the lower limits, and the daily minimum temperature at both limits was consistently lower in Oliveirinha when comparing with the northern shores. Regarding temporal variation in Oliveirinha, although the average height of both lower and upper limits did not differ between dates, we found significant differences between dates in the relative direction of the change in individual positions marked for each limit, with a consistent decrease of both limits in July relatively to March. Keywords: Patella depressa, vertical distribution, temperature, abundance, limpets Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018. Presentation Type: Poster Presentation Topic: Biodiversity, Conservation and Coastal Management Citation: Nobre D, Seabra MI and Cruz T (2019). Patterns of the vertical distribution limits of the limpet Patella depressa on the Portuguese coast. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00051 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 27 Apr 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019. * Correspondence: Ms. Daniela Nobre, Centro de Ciências do Mar e do Ambiente (MARE), Lisbon, Portugal, daniela.nobre.silva@hotmail.com Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Daniela Nobre Maria I Seabra Teresa Cruz Google Daniela Nobre Maria I Seabra Teresa Cruz Google Scholar Daniela Nobre Maria I Seabra Teresa Cruz PubMed Daniela Nobre Maria I Seabra Teresa Cruz Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.