MSGID: 1:317/3 6274a497   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Invasive species and climate change impact coastal estuaries    
    Biological invasions interact with changing climate in unpredictable ways   
      
      
     Date:   
         May 5, 2022   
     Source:   
         University of California - Davis   
     Summary:   
         Native species in California's estuaries are expected to experience   
         greater declines as invasive species interact with climate change,   
         according to a new study.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Native species in California's estuaries are expected to experience   
   greater declines as invasive species interact with climate change,   
   according to a study from the University of California, Davis.   
      
      
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   The study, published in the Ecological Society of America's journal,   
   Ecology, said these declines are expected not only because of   
   climate-related stressors, but also because of the expanding influence   
   of new invasive predators whose impacts are occurring much farther up   
   the estuary.   
      
   "Our study found that climate change and biological invasions can interact   
   in coastal estuaries in unpredictable ways," said lead author Benjamin   
   Rubinoff, a Ph.D. student in the UC Davis Department of Environmental   
   Science and Policy when the research was conducted. "This increased   
   risk of predation makes it difficult for native species that are   
   already dealing with increasingly stressful environmental conditions."   
   The researchers tested the influence of environmental stress and predation   
   on sessile invertebrates in Tomales Bay, California during the summer   
   of 2019.   
      
   Sessile invertebrates are animals without backbones that attach to reefs   
   or seagrasses and barely move, such as bryozoans and ascidians. Their   
   predators include sea stars, crabs, and snails, among other species.   
      
   Estuaries a unique environment In estuaries, changes in salinity and water   
   temperature strongly influence the distribution of many invertebrate   
   species, from mussels to crabs to sea squirts. These gradients can   
   be especially steep in the estuaries of California, which are highly   
   vulnerable to climate change and invasive species.   
      
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   In most estuaries, stressful conditions for marine organisms such as   
   low salinity and high temperature increase as you move inland from   
   the ocean. With increased stress, native predators typically consume   
   fewer prey.   
      
   But the study found that biological invasions are changing this equation,   
   since many non-native predators tolerate stress better than native   
   ones. So highly stressed native prey species are subjected to large   
   numbers of stress-tolerant invaders that compete with them for resources,   
   if not consume them.   
      
   Stressful situation "The stress gradients typical of West Coast estuaries   
   are being rapidly altered by climate change," said co-leading author Edwin   
   "Ted" Grosholz, a UC Davis professor with the Department of Environmental   
   Science and Policy and the Bodega Marine Laboratory. "These changing   
   gradients are scrambling the historical predator-prey landscape,   
   creating novel matchups and putting native prey at much higher risk   
   from invaders."  Grosholz adds that such changes are hard to predict,   
   and only experimental studies like this can disentangle the interacting   
   effects of climate change and invasions on struggling native species.   
      
   For the study, the researchers deployed square plates made of PVC with   
   different caging treatments at three locations across Tomales Bay from   
   June to October 2019. Some plates were protected from predators while   
   others allowed predator access. At the end of the period, the researchers   
   brought the plates back into the lab and identified organisms using a   
   microscope and determined percent cover.   
      
   The study was funded by grants from UC Davis and Point Reyes National   
   Seashore Association.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by   
   University_of_California_-_Davis. Original written by Kat Kerlin. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Related Multimedia:   
       * Sea_lemon,_researcher_and_one_of_the_study_sites_in_Tomales_Bay   
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Benjamin G. Rubinoff, Edwin D. Grosholz. Biological invasions alter   
         consumer-stress relationships along an estuarine gradient. Ecology,   
         2022; DOI: 10.1002/ecy.3695   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220505180924.htm   
      
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