Mortality of the intertidal copepod, Tigriopus californicus, in response to sequential temperature and salinity stressors over different latency periods

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dc.contributor.authorHackett, Brooke
dc.date.accessioned2026-02-04T20:11:29Z
dc.date.available2026-02-04T20:11:29Z
dc.date.issued2024
dc.description.abstractOrganisms are subject to constant fluctuations in their physical environment, both short and long-term. While many organisms are adapted to cope with slight fluctuations in their environment, anthropogenic influences are causing these stressors to become more frequent and extreme, prompting researchers to study how multiple stressors impact animals. Currently, few studies have researched sequential stressors. In nature, intertidal organisms can experience drastic changes in their physical environment multiple times throughout a single day as the tides change, as waves splash, and as weather changes indicating that simultaneous stressor studies may not be reflective of natural conditions and are thus uninformative. To address this gap, I investigated the mortality patterns of a common intertidal copepod, Tigriopus californicus, in response to different sequences of 12-hour freshening (66% reduction in salinity) and 12- hour temperature (either a -15 °C or +16 °C change) stressors with three latency periods of 0, 12, and 24 hours. My experiments revealed complex interactions between stressors, with the survival outcomes influenced by the order and timing of stress exposure. I observed that the fresh-fresh sequence exhibited high survival rates in heat experiments but lower survival rates in cold experiments, suggesting differential responses to stressors based on seasonal conditions. Furthermore, the influence of prior pool conditions, including salinity and temperature, on copepod survival was evident, with variations in mortality across different tide pool locations. The effect of latency between stressors on copepod survival varied, with longer latency periods generally associated with slightly higher survival rates. Our findings highlight the importance of considering sequential stressor exposures and the temporal dynamics of environmental conditions in understanding the resilience of marine organisms to changing climates. This study contributes to our understanding of the adaptive strategies employed by T. californicus in response to environmental stressors and underscores the need for further research on the mechanisms underlying stress tolerance in marine populations.
dc.description.reviewstatusUnreviewed
dc.description.scholarlevelUndergraduate
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/23128
dc.language.isoen
dc.subject.departmentDepartment of Biology
dc.titleMortality of the intertidal copepod, Tigriopus californicus, in response to sequential temperature and salinity stressors over different latency periods
dc.typeHonours thesis

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