Meeting Abstract
The call for research primed at disentangling the complexities between an organism’s ecology and physiology in relation to community dynamics have largely centered on vertebrate stress. While such investigations are invaluable for conservation efforts, invertebrates also experience physiological stress and are keystone taxa of any system they inhabit. Yet, there is a surprising investigatory void in the physiological stress literature in invertebrates compared to vertebrates. Tardigrades (water bears) are fascinating models for investigating invertebrate stress physiology. They are renowned for their ability to survive extreme stressful events by entering into cryptobiosis, or a prolonged ametabolic response to sub-optimal environmental conditions. Cryptobiosis can take on many forms, with osmobiosis (ametabolic response due to change in ion content) being one of the least understood. We investigated osmobiosis in wild-caught heterotardigrades (Echiniscidae) from Contra Costa County, California. More specifically, we sought to determine 1) the impact of increasing water ion content on cryptobiosis and reanimation, and 2) the role of community composition (presence of moss substrate and rotifers, common food sources for most tardigrades) on reanimation from cryptobiotic conditions. Results from our study will add baseline data to tardigrade stress physiology in relation to potential community dynamics as a driving force for reanimation.
