DAVIS, E.C.: Thermal stresses in the intertidal on acorn barnacles (Balanus glandula and Semibalanus cariosus)

Intertidal organisms live in an environment that has large thermal changes through the course of the tidal cycle. Acorn barnacles are found both on exposed rocks and in tidepools in the rocky intertidal. The thermal factors affecting Balanus glandula and Semibalanus cariosus in these two different intertidal habitats can be approximated from a mathematical heat flux balance model. The heat flux balance can be used to predict which factors most influence the temperature of a barnacle. The heat flux balance for an exposed barnacle on a rock shows that conduction is an important factor in the absence of evaporation. However, evaporation becomes the dominant term when it is added to the model under measured field conditions. Research was supported through a Friday Harbor Laboratories fellowship.