Food limitation erodes the thermal tolerance of larvae in an ecologically influential marine herbivore

Biologists often use organismal thermal tolerance to help explain or forecast responses of populations to climate change.  Yet many studies quantify thermal tolerance under isolated laboratory conditions despite extreme events, such as heatwaves, often coinciding with other stressors such as nutrient or food limitation. These oversights may be consequential as recent theory suggests thermal tolerance itself can be fundamentally altered by food limitation. Here, we experimentally test how food limitation affects long-term survival, development, and growth across a present-day range of temperatures in the most sensitive life stages of a key marine herbivore, purple sea urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus).  We show food limitation substantially erodes thermal tolerance in terms of survival, but when provided ample food, larvae exhibited robust survival across temperatures currently experienced by larvae in nature. Reductions in food however lowered optimal survival temperatur..., , , # Food limitation erodes the thermal tolerance of larvae in an ecologically influential marine herbivore

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.j9kd51cp2](10.5061/dryad.j9kd51cp2)

## Description of the data and file structure

We experimentally test how food limitation (500-10,000 cells mL-1) affects long-term survival, development, and growth across a present-day range of temperatures (10-20ºC) in the larval stages of a key marine herbivore, purple sea urchins (*Strongylocentrotus purpuratus*). 

### Files and variables

#### File: dpf_stage_temp_food.csv

**Description:** Number of days to reach each stage of larval development and metamorphic competency across food and temperature treatments

##### Variables

* temp: temperature treatment in ºC
* food: microalgal food treatment in cells mL-1
* days_settled: number of days to reach metamorphic competency
* days_prism: number of days to reach prism stage
* days_fourarm: number of days to reach four arm stage
* days_sixarm: number of days to rea...,