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Historical frequency of wind dispersal events and role of topography in the dispersal of anostracan cysts in a semi-arid environment

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Abstract

Propagules of several freshwater invertebrates are passively dispersed by wind, but the importance of wind as a dispersal vector remains poorly understood. We examined the historical frequency of wind dispersal events in cysts of Artemia franciscana. A threshold wind speed of ~5 km/h was required to begin dispersing surface-resting cysts, beyond which cyst dispersal increased rapidly with increasing wind speed. The analysis of wind speed and cyst dispersal data from our field experiment and wind data for the last 45 years from a nearby airport revealed that wind events strong enough to disperse most cysts at a wind-exposed site are common, occurring on ~16 snow-free days per year and occurring consistently over long time periods. In a topographically uneven landscape, however, wind speeds vary substantially from one location to another; wind speeds at our exposed site were 69% higher than in a nearby wind-sheltered depression. Accordingly, winds strong enough to disperse most cysts from this sheltered site occurred on only 5 days of the 45 year period. Cysts are thus less likely to disperse from, and more likely to settle in, sheltered depressions than wind-exposed areas. Sheltered areas could thus function as traps for wind-dispersing propagules.

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Acknowledgments

We wish to thank A. Parekh, D. Parekh, J. Parekh, S. Parekh, and G. Bloudell for providing support with field work for this project. Also thanks to M. Reudink for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. This project was conducted in compliance with the research ethics requirements of the Animal Care Committee of Thompson Rivers University, and was supported by a research grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada to LAG.

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Hydrobiologia distances itself from the field methods used in the present paper, as such methods have the potential to introduce an alien Evolutionary Significant Unit (ESU) into a study area, and discourages such methods in future studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada

    Priya A. Parekh & Louis A. Gosselin

  2. Department of Biology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Louis A. Gosselin

  3. Department of Physical Sciences, Thompson Rivers University, 900 McGill Road, Kamloops, BC, V2C 0C8, Canada

    Mark J. Paetkau

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  1. Priya A. Parekh
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  2. Mark J. Paetkau
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  3. Louis A. Gosselin
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Correspondence to Louis A. Gosselin.

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Handling editor: John M. Melack

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Parekh, P.A., Paetkau, M.J. & Gosselin, L.A. Historical frequency of wind dispersal events and role of topography in the dispersal of anostracan cysts in a semi-arid environment. Hydrobiologia 740, 51–59 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1936-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-014-1936-z

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