Data from: Fast-growing oysters show reduced capacity to provide a thermal refuge to intertidal biodiversity at high temperatures

1.Ecosystem engineers that modify the thermal environment experienced by associated organisms might assist in the climate change adaptation of species. This depends upon the ability of ecosystem engineers to persist and continue to ameliorate thermal stress under changing climatic conditions – traits that may display significant intraspecific variation.

2.In the physically stressful intertidal, the complex three-dimensional structure of oysters provides shading and traps moisture during aerial exposure at low tide. We assessed variation in the capacity of a faster- and slower-growing population of the Sydney Rock Oyster, Saccostrea glomerata, to persist, form three-dimensional structure and provide a cool microhabitat to invertebrates under warmer conditions.

3.The two populations of oysters were exposed to a temperature gradient in the field by attaching them to passively warmed white, grey and black stone pavers and their growth, survivorship and colonisation by invertebrates was monitored over a 12 month period.

4.Oysters displayed a trade-off between fast growth and thermal tolerance. The growth advantage of the fast-growing population diminished with increasing substrate temperature and at higher temperatures the faster-growing oysters suffered greater mortality, formed less habitat, and were consequently less effective at ameliorating low-tide air temperature extremes than slower-growing oysters. The greater survivorship of slower-growing oysters, in turn, produced a cooler microclimate which fed back to further bolster oyster survivorship. Invertebrate recruitment increased with habitat cover, and was greater among the slower than the faster-growing population.

5.Our results show that the capacity of ecosystem engineers to serve as microhabitat refugia to associated organisms in a warming climate displays marked intraspecific variation. Our study also adds to growing evidence that fast growth may come at the expense of thermal tolerance.

Usage Notes
Temperature, oyster survivorship and growth, and recruited invertebrate assemblage dataData of the maximum temperatures that Sydney Rock Oysters experienced, their subsequent survivorship, growth and habitat formation, and the invertebrate communities that recruited to the oyster habitat during two field experiments in the Port Stephens estuary of New South Wales, Australia. Data was collected in 2014 and 2015.McAfee et al. 2017_raw data.xlsx

生态工程师通过改变相关生物所经历的温度环境，可能有助于物种对气候变化的适应性调整。这一适应性取决于生态工程师在气候变化条件下持续存在并继续缓解热应激的能力——这些特性可能表现出显著的种内变异。在物理应激的潮间带，牡蛎复杂的三维结构在低潮时提供了遮荫并捕获水分。我们评估了悉尼岩牡蛎（Saccostrea glomerata）较快和较慢生长种群在较暖条件下持续生存、形成三维结构和为无脊椎动物提供凉爽微生境的能力的变异情况。这两个牡蛎种群在野外通过附着在被动加热的白色、灰色和黑色石板上来暴露于温度梯度中，并在12个月的周期内监测了它们的生长、存活率和无脊椎动物的殖民化。牡蛎在快速生长和热耐受性之间表现出权衡。随着底质温度的增加，快速生长种群的生长优势减弱，在较高温度下，快速生长的牡蛎遭受更大的死亡率，形成的栖息地较少，因此比生长较慢的牡蛎在缓解低潮空气温度极端情况方面效果较差。较慢生长牡蛎的较高存活率反过来又产生了更凉爽的微气候，从而进一步增强了牡蛎的存活率。随着栖息地覆盖度的增加，无脊椎动物的招募数量增加，且在较慢生长种群中比在快速生长种群中更为显著。我们的研究结果揭示了生态工程师在变暖气候中作为相关生物微生境避难所的能力存在显著的种内变异。我们的研究也为日益增多的证据增添了新的内容，即快速生长可能以热耐受性为代价。使用说明：温度、牡蛎存活率和生长以及招募的无脊椎动物群落数据。记录了悉尼岩牡蛎在两个野外实验中经历的最高温度、其后的存活率、生长和栖息地形成，以及在新南威尔士州新南威尔士州Port Stephens河口招募到牡蛎栖息地的无脊椎动物群落。数据收集于2014年和2015年。McAfee等人，2017年_raw数据.xlsx