Habitat Selection and Migratory Behaviour of the Intertidal Gastropod Littorina littorea (L.)

10.2307/3948 ◽  
1977 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert P. Gendron
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Migratory Behaviour ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod

scholarly journals Ocean acidification disrupts induced defences in the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea

2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 699-701 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Bibby ◽  
Polly Cleall-Harding ◽  
Simon Rundle ◽  
Steve Widdicombe ◽  
John Spicer
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Acidification ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Direct Effects ◽  
Joint Stress ◽  
Seawater Ph ◽  
Induced Defences ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod ◽  
High Predation ◽  
Morphological Defence

Carbon dioxide-induced ocean acidification is predicted to have major implications for marine life, but the research focus to date has been on direct effects. We demonstrate that acidified seawater can have indirect biological effects by disrupting the capability of organisms to express induced defences, hence, increasing their vulnerability to predation. The intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea produced thicker shells in the presence of predation (crab) cues but this response was disrupted at low seawater pH. This response was accompanied by a marked depression in metabolic rate (hypometabolism) under the joint stress of high predation risk and reduced pH. However, snails in this treatment apparently compensated for a lack of morphological defence, by increasing their avoidance behaviour, which, in turn, could affect their interactions with other organisms. Together, these findings suggest that biological effects from ocean acidification may be complex and extend beyond simple direct effects.

scholarly journals Microplastic leachates impair behavioural vigilance and predator avoidance in a temperate intertidal gastropod

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 20180453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurent Seuront
Keyword(s):  
Predator Avoidance ◽  
Chemical Cues ◽  
Biological Effects ◽  
Carcinus Maenas ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Behavioural Response ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Marine Life ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod

Microplastics are a ubiquitous source of contaminations in marine ecosystems, and have major implications for marine life. Much effort has been devoted to assessing the various effects of microplastics on marine life. No evidence exists, however, on the effects of microplastic leachates on chemically mediated predator–prey interactions and the ability of prey to detect and avoid its predator. This study shows that microplastic leachates have direct biological effects by disturbing the behavioural response of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea to the presence of Carcinus maenas chemical cues, hence increasing their vulnerability to predation. Leachates from virgin and beached pellets respectively impaired and inhibited L. littorea vigilance and antipredator behaviours. These results suggest that the biological effects from microplastic leachates may have major implications for marine ecosystems on taxa that rely on chemosensory cues to escape predation.

Metallothionein induction in Littorina littorea (Mollusca: Prosobranchia) on exposure to cadmium

1992 ◽  
Vol 72 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-342 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J. Bebianno ◽  
W.J. Langston ◽  
K. Simkiss
Keyword(s):  
Digestive Gland ◽  
Metal Binding ◽  
De Novo ◽  
Differential Pulse ◽  
Littorina Littorea ◽  
Differential Pulse Polarography ◽  
Tissue Preparation ◽  
Surrounding Water ◽  
Pulse Polarography ◽  
Intertidal Gastropod

Cadmium uptake, storage and metabolism has been studied in the digestive gland and remaining tissues of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea (L). Accumulation of cadmium was linear with time in both of these compartments in individuals exposed to a range of cadmium concentrations (4, 40 and 400 μg Cd l−1).The subcellular distribution of cadmium in the digestive gland and remaining tissues of Littorina littorea reveals that most of the metal is bound to metallothionein, even in controls, and that cadmium associated with metallothionein increases in proportion to cadmium concentrations in the surrounding water.Measurements of metallothionein, made by differential pulse polarography showed that, in the digestive gland, concentrations of this metal-binding protein are not significantly affected by cadmium exposure, while in the remaining tissues they are dose-related.The inherently high levels of metallothionein in the digestive gland of L. littorea explain the role of this tissue as a major site for cadmium storage. However, the lack of significant de novo synthesis of metallothionein in response to cadmium, together with polarographic interferences from high molecular weight thiolic proteins, reduces the value of this tissue preparation as a means of detecting sublethal responses to metals.

scholarly journals Seasonal effects of climate and land use changes on ecological niche of a migratory bird

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javier Gutierrez Illan ◽  
Guiming Wang ◽  
Fred L Cunningham ◽  
D Tommy King
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Selection ◽  
Land Cover ◽  
Ecological Niche ◽  
Food Resource ◽  
Food Resources ◽  
Seasonal Migration ◽  
Selection Strategy ◽  
Migratory Behaviour ◽  
Climatic Niche ◽  
Wintering Grounds

Abstract Background: The habitat selection strategies followed by migratory populations are a major concern for conservation and management. Consequently, the ability to predict their distribution and potential changes in migratory behaviour is a pressing challenge for ecological modelling in a changing world. There are two main strategies of habitat selection adopted by migratory animals: tracking optimal conditions or acclimatizing to a changing environment between seasons. In this study, we investigate the variations in ecological niche of gps-tracked American White Pelicans (AWPE) associated with their seasonal migration. We also investigated whether recent changes in food resources in their wintering grounds have exerted an impact on the habitat selection behaviour of AWPE. Methods: We developed Maximum Entropy (MAXENT) Species Distribution Models (SDM) using data from GPS-tracked AWPE. We then compared climatic and land-cover niche breadth and overlap between their breeding and wintering grounds in relation to the facultative migratory behaviour of AWPE. Results: Our climatic, land-cover, and combined SDMs obtained a high predictive performance. Several lines of our findings support our hypothesis that AWPE habitat selection strategy follows the “niche switcher” theory. American White Pelicans showed little climatic niche overlap between nesting and wintering seasons. Migrants in the breeding grounds showed broader climatic niche than residents and migrants in the wintering grounds. Finally, declines in availability of food resources provided by commercial aquaculture in their wintering grounds appeared to affect the niche variations of AWPE, with land-cover niche being narrower before than after the decline in aquaculture. Conclusions: If AWPE can effectively adapt and occupy different niches when they migrate instead of tracking suitable climate conditions, this can have important implications in the context of Global Change, since they might respond unexpectedly to anthropogenic changes, like the recent decline in aquaculture as a food resource reported here.

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