Hot Rocks and Not-So-Hot Rocks on the Seashore: Patterns and Body-Size Dependent Consequences of Microclimatic Variation in Intertidal Zone Boulder Habitat.

ABSTRACT: Microclimatic variation has emerged as an important driver of many ecological and evolutionary processes. Nonetheless, fine-scale temperature data are still rare in most habitats, limiting our ability to understand the consequences of microclimatic variation under current and future conditions. We measured fine-scale thermal variation in a common, species-rich, but rarely studied habitat with respect to temperature: the airspaces under rocks on intertidal zone boulder shores. The effects of thermal variation were investigated using physiological, behavioral, and demographic responses of the porcelain crab Petrolisthes cinctipes. Habitat temperatures were measured at fine spatial and temporal resolution over 18 months, producing 424,426 temperature records. Microclimatic variation in

SUBMITTER: Gunderson AR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7671146 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature