Meeting Abstract

37.1  Tuesday, Jan. 5  Comparing British mussel hybrid zones to a temperature-sensitive hybrid zone on the coast of France FLY, E.K.*; HILBISH, T.J.; Univ. of South Carolina; Univ. of South Carolina efly@biol.sc.edu

Warming temperatures associated with climate change have been linked to changes in the geographic distribution of many species, including intertidal species. Hybrid zones between warm and cold-adapted species are thought to be especially sensitive tools allowing for the formation of hypotheses concerning ecological responses to climate change. The blue mussels Mytilus edulis and M. galloprovincialis are cold and warm-adapted species, respectively, that are found along European coasts, where they form multiple, extensive hybrid zones. The hybrid zone on the Brittany coast in France has shifted northward roughly 125 km in fewer than 10 years. It has been hypothesized that this shift in the hybrid zone is correlated with daily temperatures in January above 10.5 °C. This hypothesis was applied to the M. edulis–M. galloprovincialis hybrid zones in Britain to determine whether these hybrid zones are sensitive to the same temperature parameters or whether there may be regional adaptation. If this hypothesis is supported in Britain, we expect to see shifts in species distribution in areas that show corresponding changes in degree days in January. If this hypothesis is not supported, we will see either stasis of the hybrid zones or changes unassociated with degree days in January.