Sizzling on the Seashore:
By Luke Miller

Organisms living in the intertidal zone not only have to deal with large waves trying to rip them off of the rocks, but also low-tide periods, when the rocks dry out and everything heats up. The animals and algae that live on rocky shores are typically much more robust than their subtidal relatives when faced with high temperatures, but even these well-adapted creatures are occasionally pushed to the limit of survival during heat waves. Through a combination of field measurements, lab experiments, and computer modeling, we are able to examine how intertidal organisms respond to occasional rare heat waves, and make long-term predictions about the survival of these organisms in the face of potential climate change.

Making predictions about how organisms will react to stressful events requires a number of different types of data. We measure temperatures on the sea shore, and monitor the survival of marked animals, along with gathering continuous weather records for the local area. In the lab, organisms, such as these limpets, are placed in a computer-controlled “biosphere” where we can experimentally manipulate the temperature of the air and the ground, along with the humidity of the air and the flow of wind, and collect physiological data. All of these different types of data can then be fed into a computer model to predict the response of the organism to future hypothetical weather regimes, as well as to make historical predictions about how the rocky shore community might have changed in the past.

Transect site

Limpet Movie: