The proposed research will investigate how different rates of dispersal in marine snails can influence their ability to adapt to water temperatures. The investigators will compare the larval and juvenile traits of two species of snail (genus Crepidula) under different temperature regimes. One of the species (C. fornicata) has larvae that live in the water for 2-4 weeks and disperse with ocean currents; the other (C. convexa) has larvae that disperse by crawling away as juveniles. Previous research has shown that C. convexa has much lower dispersal than C. fornicata, and that this lower dispersal may allow the species to adapt to local water temperatures. The current project will rear larvae and juveniles of both species at an ambient temperature and a stressful, higher temperature to investigate the genetic basis of temperature tolerance in these species.
This research is important because it will help to elucidate the links between dispersal mode, gene flow, and extant local adaptation as related to future adaptation in the face of warming climate, one of the most pressing questions facing organismal biologists today. In addition to being a valuable model system to answer these questions, the issue of range shifts or expansions in C. fornicata is of management interest. The species is invasive in Europe and has impacted its invaded ecosystems. These same impacts may also apply to the native range of C. fornicata as the species expands its range and abundance northward in response to warming water temperature.
