Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-lj6df Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T17:03:49.614Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Note on the Temperature Tolerances of some Intertidal animals in Relation to Environmental Temperatures and Geographical Distribution

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2009

A. J. Southward
A. J. Southward
Affiliation:
The Plymouth Laboratory
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

In experiments on four species of barnacles and four species of top-shells, the barnacles were found to be more resistant to high or low temperatures than the top-shells. Among each group of animals the degree of tolerance was related to the geographical distribution of the species and their zonation on the shore. Thus most tolerance of high temperature was shown by species of southern distribution, especially by those occurring at the upper limit of the midlittoral zone, and most tolerance of low temperature by species of northern distribution. Least tolerance of high and low temperatures was shown by species found only in the infralittoral fringe or below low water.

Field measurements of the body temperatures of barnacles and limpets while exposed to the air were made with thermocouples. Under many weather conditions the body temperatures were higher than would be expected from local meteorological values of air temperature. This difference was due to retention of sea temperature by the animals and the rocks and to the heating effects of sunlight.

The results of the laboratory experiments and of the field measurements are discussed together in relation to weather and geographical distribution. It is clear that the temperatures experienced on the shore are well within the tolerance limits of most of the animals, and even exceptional extremes of temperature may have little direct influence on the distribution of adult intertidal animals. Evidence for a causal relation between temperature and distribution must be sought in non-lethal terms such as debilitating effects, or indirectly through competition between species, or in combination with other factors.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , February 1958 , pp. 49 - 66
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 1958

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ministry, Air 1953–1954. The Daily Weather Report. London: Meteorological Office.Google Scholar
Andrewartha, H. G. & Birch, L. C., 1954. The Distribution and Abundance of Animals. Chicago: University Press.Google Scholar
Broekhuysen, C. J., 1940. A preliminary investigation of the importance of desiccation, temperature and salinity as factors controlling the vertical distribution of certain marine gastropods in False Bay, South Africa. Trans, roy. Soc. S. Afr., Vol.28, pp. 255–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Crisp, D. J. &Southward, A. J., 1958. The distribution of intertidal organisms along the coasts of the English Channel. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 37, pp. 157–208.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edney, E. B., 1953. The temperature of woodlice in the sun. J. exp. Biol., Vol. 30, pp. 331–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, G. A., 1946. The influence of temperature upon the oxygen consumption of several arthropods. J. cell. comp. Physiol., Vol. 27, pp. 53–64.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Evans, R. G., 1948. The lethal temperatures of some common British littoral molluscs. J. Anim. Ecol., Vol. 17, pp. 165–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gowanloch, J. N. & Hayes, F. R., 1926. Contributions to the study of marine gastropods. I. The physical factors, behaviour and intertidal life of Littorina. Contr. Canad. Biol., N.S., Vol. 3, pp. 133–66.Google Scholar
Gurjanova, E.Sachs, I. & Uschakov, P., 1930. Das littoral des Kola Fjords. III. Trav. Soc. Nat. Leningrad, Vol. 60, pp. 17–107. (In Russian, German summary.)Google Scholar
Heilbrunn, L. V., 1943. An Outline of General Physiology, 3rd ed. Philadelphia and London: Saunders.Google Scholar
Huntsman, A. G. & Sparks, M. I., 1924. Limiting factors for marine animals. III. Relative resistance to high temperatures. Contr. Canad. Biol., N.S., Vol. 2, pp. 95–114.Google Scholar
Hutchins, L. W., 1947. The bases for temperature zonation in geographical distribution. Ecol. Monogr., Vol. 17, pp. 325–35.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kanwisher, J. W., 1955. Freezing in intertidal animals. Biol: Bull, Woods Hole, Vol. 109, pp. 56–63.Google Scholar
Loosanoff, V. L.Miller, W. S. & Smith, P. B., 1951. Growth and setting of larvae of Venus mercenaria in relation to temperature. J. mar. Res., Vol. 10, pp. 59–81.Google Scholar
Moore, H. B., 1935. The biology of Balanus balanoides. IV. Relation to environ-mental factors. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 20, pp. 279–307.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orr, P. R., 1955. Heat death I. Time-temperature relationships in marine animals. Physiol. ZooL, Vol. 28, pp. 290–4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orton, J. H., 1920. Sea temperatures, breeding and distribution in marine animals. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 12, pp. 339–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Orton, J.H. assisted by Lewis, H. M., 1931. On the effect of the severe winter of 1928–1929 on the oyster drills of the Blackwater Estuary. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 17, pp. 301–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parry, D. A., 1951. Factors determining the temperature of terrestrial arthropods in sunlight. J. exp. Biol., Vol. 28, pp. 445–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Runnstrom, S., 1929. Weitere Studien über die Temperaturanpassung der Fortpflanzung und Entwicklung mariner Tiere. Bergens Mus. Aarb., 1929, No. 10, 33 PP.Google Scholar
Southward, A. J., 1950. Occurrence of Chthamalus stellatus in the Isle of Man. Nature, Lond., Vol. 165, p. 408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A. J., 1955. On the behaviour of barnacles. I. The relation of cirral and other activities to temperature. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 34, pp. 403&22.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A. J., 1957. On the behaviour of barnacles. III. Further observations on the influence of temperature and age on cirral activity. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 36, 323–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Southward, A. J. & Crisp, D. J., 1954. The distribution of certain intertidal animals around the Irish coast. Proc. R. Irish Acad., Vol. 57 (B), No. 1, 29 pp.Google Scholar
Southward, A. J., 1956. Fluctuations in the distribution and abundance of intertidal barnacles. J. mar. biol. Ass. U.K., Vol. 35, pp. 211–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vernon, H. M., 1899. The death temperature of certain marine organisms. J.Physiol., Vol. 25, pp. 131–6.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed