Plasticity and trade-offs in physiological traits of intertidal mussels subjected to freshwater-induced environmental variation

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 553:93-109 (2016) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11764 Plasticity and trade-offs in physiological traits of intertidal mussels subjected to freshwater-induced environmental variation Laura Ramajo1,2,3, Luis Prado2, Alejandro B. Rodriguez-Navarro4, Marco A. Lardies3, Carlos M. Duarte1,5, Nelson A. Lagos2,* 1Global Change Department, Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados (IMEDEA, CSIC-UIB), C/ Miquel Marqués 21, 07190 Esporles (Mallorca), Spain 2Centro de Investigación e Innovación para el Cambio Climático (CiiCC), Universidad Santo Tomás, Avda. Ejército 146, 8370003 Santiago, Chile 3Facultad de Artes Liberales & Ingeniería y Ciencias, Universidad Adolfo Ibañez, Avda. Diagonal Las Torres 2640, Peñalolén, 7941169 Santiago, Chile 4Departamento de Mineralogía y Petrología, Universidad de Granada, Avda. Campus de Fuentenueva s/n, 18002 Granada, Spain 5King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Thuwal 23955-6900, Saudi Arabia *Corresponding author: nlagoss@ust.cl ABSTRACT: Environmental gradients play an important role in shaping geographic variability in coastal marine populations. Thus, the ability of organisms to cope with these changes will depend on their potential to acclimatize, or adapt, to these new environmental conditions. We investigated the spatial variability in biological responses shown by Perumytilus purpuratus mussels collected from 2 intertidal areas experiencing contrasting freshwater input influences (river-influenced vs. marine conditions). To highlight the role of plasticity and adaptive potential in biological responses, we performed a reciprocal-transplant experiment and measured relevant phenotypic traits including mortality, growth, calcification, metabolism, and chemical composition of the shell periostracum. We determined that mussels exposed to river-influenced conditions had increased metabolic rates and reduced growth rates, as compared to mussels experiencing marine conditions (p < 0.05). While the energy investment strategies of the 2 local populations resulted in similar net calcification rates, these rates decreased significantly when mussels were transplanted to the river-influenced site. Stressful conditions at the river-influenced site were evidenced by decreased survivorship across treatments. Freshwater inputs modify the organic composition of the shell periostracum through a significant reduction in polysaccharides. Although our field experiment did not identify specific environmental factors underlying these contrasting phenotypic changes, the results imply that plasticity plays a strong role when P. purpuratus is exposed to some combination of natural (e.g. salinity) and anthropogenic influences (e.g. pollution), and that the lack of exposure to freshwater may promote less tolerant mussels with greater potential for local adaptation. KEY WORDS: Calcification · Shell periostracum · Metabolism · Local adaptation · Central Chile · Perumytilus purpuratus Full text in pdf format Supplementary material PreviousNextCite this article as: Ramajo L, Prado L, Rodriguez-Navarro AB, Lardies MA, Duarte CM, Lagos NA (2016) Plasticity and trade-offs in physiological traits of intertidal mussels subjected to freshwater-induced environmental variation. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 553:93-109. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps11764 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 553. Online publication date: July 14, 2016 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2016 Inter-Research.