Thesis
The effects of ecologically relevant stressors on the physiology and behavior of the copepod Tigriopus californicus
Washington State University
Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
05/2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000004233
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/124969
Abstract
Terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems around the globe are facing unprecedent rates of environmental change. Understanding how these changes affect behavioral mechanisms and in turn organism survival are pertinent to making predictions relating to organism resilience when faced with a challenging environment. One abiotic condition of interest to many researchers is increasing surface temperatures. It is well understood that organism function is highly dependent upon mechanisms at the biochemical and physiological level which are susceptible to changes in temperature. Changes at this level can have a rippling effect up to the level of the whole organism, though certain organisms may be more susceptible to these changes than others. Ectothermic organisms lack the ability to internally thermoregulate, many must rely on behavioral mechanisms to remain within temperatures that optimize performance. Though there has been a growing attempt to understand the potentially detrimental effects of a changing climate on ectothermic organisms, much of the existing literature focuses on an organism's behavior and survival to single long-term exposure to stressors. However, organisms rarely experience chronic stressors in their natural environment, let alone experience a single stressor at a time. This leaves the effects of cycling and interacting stressors largely unexplored. In this thesis I highlight the importance of incorporating cycling and combined environmental stressors in laboratory settings. I describe novel methodologies to determine thermal preference and thermal performance of small aquatic ectotherms using the intertidal copepod Tigriopus californicus. These methodologies demonstrate that acclimation history does influence organism performance, though it does not affect thermal preference. In addition, I explore the effects of combined stressors; temperature and oxygen, which have been suggested to increase survival during thermal stress when experienced simultaneously. Our findings suggest this combination, known as the Oxygen and Capacity Limited Thermal Tolerance may be an overgeneralized concept as survival was not mitigated to temperature exposure when exposed to hyperoxic conditions. These studies reinforce the growing need to incorporate more ecologically relevant stressors in laboratory experiments when attempting to make predictions of organism response and resilience to a changing climate.
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Details
- Title
- The effects of ecologically relevant stressors on the physiology and behavior of the copepod Tigriopus californicus
- Creators
- Arani Yunuen Cuevas-Sanchez
- Contributors
- W. Wesley Dowd (Advisor) - Washington State University, Biological Sciences, School of
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Biological Sciences, School of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Science (MS), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Identifiers
- 99900896424201842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis