Ocean weather, biological rates, and unexplained global ecological patterns
Abstract
As on land, oceans exhibit high temporal and spatial temperature variation. This “ocean weather” contributes to the physiological and ecological processes that ultimately determine the patterns of species distribution and abundance, yet is often unrecognized, especially in tropical oceans. Here, we tested the paradigm of temperature stability in shallow waters (<12.5 m) across different zones of latitude. We collated hundreds of in situ, high temporal-frequency ocean temperature time series globally to produce an intuitive measure of temperature variability, ranging in scale from quarter-diurnal to annual time spans. To estimate organismal sensitivity of ectotherms (i.e. microbes, algae, and animals whose body temperatures depend upon ocean temperature), we computed the corresponding range of biological rates (such as metabolic rate or photosynthesis) for each time span, assuming an exponential relationship. We found that subtropical regions had the broadest temperature ranges at time spans equal to or shorter than a month, while temperate and tropical systems both exhibited narrow (i.e. stable) short-term temperature range estimates. However, temperature-dependent biological rates in tropical regions displayed greater ranges than in temperate systems. Hence, our results suggest that tropical ectotherms may be relatively more sensitive to short-term thermal variability. We also highlight previously unexplained macroecological patterns that may be underpinned by short-term temperature variability.
Citation
Li Shing Hiung , D L C Y , Schuster , J M , Duncan , M I , Payne , N L , Helmuth , B , Chu , J W F , Baum , J K , Brambilla , V , Bruno , J , Davies , S W , Dornelas , M , Gagnon , P , Guy-Haim , T , Jackson , J M , Leichter , J J , Madin , J S , Monteith , Z L , Queirós , A M , Schneider , E V C , Starko , S , Talwar , B S , Wyatt , A S J , Aichelman , H E , Bensoussan , N , Caruso , C , Castillo , K , Choi , F , Dong , Y-W , Garrabou , J , Guillemain , D , Higgs , N , Jiang , Y , Kersting , D K , Kushner , D J , Longo , G O , Neufeld , C , Peirache , M , Smyth , T , Sprague , J L , Urvoy , G , Zuberer , F & Bates , A E 2024 , ' Ocean weather, biological rates, and unexplained global ecological patterns ' , PNAS Nexus , vol. 3 , no. 8 , pgae260 . https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgae260
Publication
PNAS Nexus
Status
Peer reviewed
ISSN
2752-6542Type
Journal article
Description
Funding: A.E.B. discloses support for the research of this work from the Canada Research Chairs (CRC) and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).Collections
Items in the St Andrews Research Repository are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.