Meeting Abstract
Warming ocean temperatures can present significant stress for coastal marine ecosystems. Understanding effects of warming temperatures on the ecological interactions within these ecosystems can help predict effects of climate change. The marine snail, Lacuna vincta, is an ecologically important herbivore in eelgrass and kelp habitats, which are vulnerable to warming ocean temperatures. L. vincta is consumed by two main predators, the kelp crab, Pugettia gracilis, and the sea star, Leptasterias spp. Our objective was to investigate how warming ocean temperatures affect predation rates of these two predators on L. vincta. Predation rates were measured in three different temperature treatments: 12°C, 16°C and 20°C. Predators had the opportunity to consume 10 snails each for two hours (P. gracilis) and three hours (Leptasterias spp.) We recorded the number and sizes of remaining snails after the feeding period. Our results showed that P. gracilis consumed more snails than Leptasterias spp. in all temperature treatments, and that temperature had no significant effect on predation rates for both predators. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the size of snails consumed by P. gracilis and Leptasterias spp. Our results suggest that the interactions between L.vincta and their predators could remain unaffected as ocean temperatures continue to rise.
