Behavioral responses of intertidal clams to compound extreme weather and climate events

Rapidly increasing concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere not only results in global warming, but also drives increasing seawater acidification. Infaunal bivalves play critical roles in benthic-pelagic coupling, but little is known about their behavioral responses to compound climate events. Here, we tested how heatwaves and acidification affected the behavior of Manila clams (Ruditapes philippinarum). Under acidified conditions, the clams remained capable of burrowing into sediments. Yet, when heatwaves attacked, significant decreases in burrowing ability occurred. Following two consecutive events of heatwaves, the clams exhibited rapid behavioral acclimation. The present study showed that the behavior of R. philippinarum is more sensitive to heatwaves than acidification. Given that the behavior can act as an early and sensitive indicator of the fitness of intertidal bivalves, whether, and to what extent, behavioral acclimation can persist under scenarios of intensifying heatwaves in the context of ocean acidification deserve further investigations.

Hurricane pulses: Small watershed exports of dissolved nutrients and organic matter during large storms in the Southeastern USA

Extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, can cause ecological disturbances that alter energy and nutrients across terrestrial-aquatic boundaries. Yet, relatively few studies have considered the impacts of extreme weather events on biogeochemical dynamics in watersheds at larger spatial scales. Here, we assessed the effects of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma on the export of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and nutrients in ten watersheds from five southeastern states of the United States. We quantified the magnitude of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and nutrients exported during the storms and assessed the changes in DOM sources and bioreactivity after storms. Our results show that the storm-mobilized DOC and nutrients fluxes were primarily driven by water discharge. The proportions of terrestrial, humic-like DOM compounds increased, and percent autochthonous, protein-like DOM decreased during high flows. Percent bioreactive DOC decreased with increasing discharge. Bioreactivity increased with increasing nitrate concentration, but decreased as percent terrestrial humic-like DOM, aromaticity, and molecular weight increased. These observations suggest that storms may have shifted flow paths to shallower depths that promoted the addition of biorefractory organic matter from topsoils into the water column. Notably, the total flux of bioreactive DOC was at least nearly twice as high at peak discharge, indicating materials transported by large storm flows could strongly enhance microbial activity in streams, although the position of storm-mediated microbial hotspots would depend on the flow rate and other instream parameters. Additionally, compared to forest-dominated watersheds, urban watersheds exported high loads of nutrients and bioreactive DOC, and a wetland-dominated watershed had a prolonged, but relatively subdued export of DOC and nutrients. Together, our findings highlight the ecological significance of extreme weather and climate events in leading to rapid, large-magnitude changes in energy and nutrient availability within drainage networks, and the potential interactions between land use and climate change on watershed biogeochemistry.