Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Increase in Weather Patterns Generating Extreme Desiccation Events: Implications for Mediterranean Rocky Shore Ecosystems

  • Published:
Estuaries and Coasts Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Anthropogenic global climate change is anticipated to increase the frequency and intensity of transient extreme weather events that can be catastrophic to ecological communities. Here, we characterize an extremely stressful, transient phenomenon on southeastern Mediterranean (Israel) rocky shores: prolonged desiccation events (PDE). We also examined (during 2012–2014) its potential ecological impacts on the unique intertidal Mediterranean Sea ecosystem—vermetid reefs. In this region, where the tide is minimal but the rocky intertidal is extensive, high pressure and dry easterly winds generated by specific synoptic systems can suppress tidal flooding and create stressful desiccation conditions in the lower intertidal zones for many consecutive days (several days to weeks). Very long and strong PDEs resulted in extensive macroalgal bleaching and their eventual removal from the rocks and caused mortality of stranded topshell snails and partial collapse of the mid-shore limpet population. Dominant intertidal fleshy algae were shown to be more sensitive than calcareous algae to desiccation stress, but both die after 24 h of exposure in lab conditions. Re-analysis of climatic data for the period 1960–2010 showed a considerable increase in the frequency of PDE-generating synoptic systems, mainly during winter. This means that desiccation stress has already increased on southeastern Mediterranean vermetid reef ecological communities, and if this trend continues, we can expect further increases in aerial exposure and desiccation stress that could have long-term impacts on this fragile ecosystem. These results demonstrate the importance of change in patterns of synoptic systems and wind regimes to the integrity of coastal ecological communities.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alpert, P., T. Ben-Gai, A. Baharad, Y. Benjamini, D. Yekutieli, M. Colacino, L. Diodato, C. Ramis, V. Homar, and R. Romero. 2002. The paradoxical increase of Mediterranean extreme daily rainfall in spite of decrease in total values. Geophysical Research Letters 29 (11).

  • Alpert, P., I. Osetinsky, B. Ziv, and H. Shafir. 2004. Semi-objective classification for daily synoptic systems: application to the eastern Mediterranean climate change. International Journal of Climatology 24 (8): 1001–1011.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alpert, P., S.O. Krichak, H. Shafir, D. Haim, and I. Osetinsky. 2008. Climatic trends to extremes employing regional modeling and statistical interpretation over the E. Mediterranean. Global and Planetary Change 63 (2-3): 163–170.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, E. 1993. Photosynthetic response to temperature and desiccation of the intertidal alga Mastocarpus papillatus. Marine Biology 117 (2): 337–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell, E.C. 1995. Environmental and morphological influences on thallus temperature and desiccation of the intertidal alga Mastocarpus papillatus Kützing. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 191 (1): 29–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Benedetti-Cecchi, L., I. Bertocci, S. Vaselli, and E. Maggi. 2006. Temporal variance reverses the impact of high mean intensity of stress in climate change experiments. Ecology 87 (10): 2489–2499.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chemello, R., and S. Silenzi. 2011. Vermetid reefs in the Mediterranean Sea as archives of sea-level and surface temperature changes. Chemistry & Ecology 27 (2): 121–127.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Council, A. 2001. Statement on seasonal to interannual climate prediction. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society 82: 701.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diffenbaugh, N.S., and C.B. Field. 2013. Changes in ecologically critical terrestrial climate conditions. Science 341 (6145): 486–492.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Dong, Y., L.P. Miller, J.G. Sanders, and G.N. Somero. 2008. Heat-shock protein 70 (Hsp70) expression in four limpets of the genus Lottia: interspecific variation in constitutive and inducible synthesis correlates with in situ exposure to heat stress. The Biological Bulletin 215 (2): 173–181.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J.P. 2009. 21st century climate change in the Middle East. Climatic Change 92 (3-4): 417–432.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Garrabou, J., R. Coma, N. Bensoussan, M. Bally, P. Chevaldonne, M. Cigliano, D. Diaz, J.G. Harmelin, M.C. Gambi, D.K. Kersting, J.B. Ledoux, C. Lejeusne, C. Linares, C. Marschal, T. Perez, M. Ribes, J.C. Romano, E. Serrano, N. Teixido, O. Torrents, M. Zabala, F. Zuberer, and C. Cerrano. 2009. Mass mortality in Northwestern Mediterranean rocky benthic communities: effects of the 2003 heat wave. Global Change Biology 15 (5): 1090–1103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gattuso, J.-P., A. Magnan, R. Billé, W. Cheung, E. Howes, F. Joos, D. Allemand, L. Bopp, S. Cooley, and C. Eakin. 2015. Contrasting futures for ocean and society from different anthropogenic CO2 emissions scenarios. Science 349 (6243): aac4722.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grange, S. K. 2014. Technical note: averaging wind speeds and directions. [Technical report] doi:https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.1.3349.2006.

  • Harley, C.D.G., and B.S.T. Helmuth. 2003. Local- and regional-scale effects of wave exposure, thermal stress, and absolute versus effective shore level on patterns of intertidal zonation. Limnology and Oceanography 48 (4): 1498–1508.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harley, C.D.G., A.R. Hughes, K.M. Hultgren, B.G. Miner, C.J.B. Sorte, C.S. Thornber, L.F. Rodriguez, L. Tomanek, and S.L. Williams. 2006. The impacts of climate change in coastal marine systems. Ecology Letters 9 (2): 228–241.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harley, C.D., S.D. Connell, Z.A. Doubleday, B. Kelaher, B.D. Russell, G. Sarà, and B. Helmuth. 2017. Conceptualizing ecosystem tipping points within a physiological framework. Ecology and Evolution. 7 (15): 6035–6045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmuth, B., C.D.G. Harley, P.M. Halpin, M. O'Donnell, G.E. Hofmann, and C.A. Blanchette. 2002. Climate change and latitudinal patterns of intertidal thermal stress. Science 298 (5595): 1015–1017.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Helmuth, B., N. Mieszkowska, P. Moore, and S.J. Hawkins. 2006. Living on the edge of two changing worlds: forecasting the responses of rocky intertidal ecosystems to climate change. Annual Review of Ecology Evolution and Systematics 37 (1): 373–404.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helmuth, B., B.D. Russell, S.D. Connell, Y. Dong, C.D. Harley, F.P. Lima, G. Sará, G.A. Williams, and N. Mieszkowska. 2014. Beyond long-term averages: making biological sense of a rapidly changing world. Climate Change Responses 1 (1).

  • Herut, B. 2016. The national monitoring program of Israel’s Mediterranean waters—scientific report for 2015, IOLR, Report H42/2016: National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research.

  • Hochman, A., T. Harpaz, H. Saaroni, and P. Alpert. 2017. Synoptic classification in 21st century CMIP5 predictions over the Eastern Mediterranean with focus on cyclones. International Journal of Climatology.

  • IPCC. 2012. Managing the risks of extreme events and disasters to advance climate change adaptation. A special report of Working Groups I and II of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, ed. C.B. Field, V. Barros, T.F. Stocker, D. Qin, D.J. Dokken, K.L. Ebi, M.D. Mastrandrea, K.J. Mach, G.-K. Plattner, S.K. Allen, M. Tignor, and P.M. Midgley (eds). 582 Cambridge, UK, and New York, NY, USA.

  • IPCC. 2013. Climate change 2013: the physical science basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jonsson, P.R., L. Granhag, P.S. Moschella, P. Åberg, S.J. Hawkins, and R.C. Thompson. 2006. Interactions between wave action and grazing control the distribution of intertidal macroalgae. Ecology 87 (5): 1169–1178.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelley, C.P., S. Mohtadi, M.A. Cane, R. Seager, and Y. Kushnir. 2015. Climate change in the Fertile Crescent and implications of the recent Syrian drought. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (11): 3241–3246.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kinlan, B.P., S.D. Gaines, and S.E. Lester. 2005. Propagule dispersal and the scales of marine community process. Diversity and Distributions 11 (2): 139–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitoh, A., A. Yatagai, and P. Alpert. 2008. First super-high-resolution model projection that the ancient “Fertile Crescent” will disappear in this century. Hydrological Research Letters 2: 1–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kostopoulou, E., C. Giannakopoulos, M. Hatzaki, A. Karali, P. Hadjinicolaou, J. Lelieveld, and M. Lange. 2013. Assessment of climate change extremes over the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East region using the Hadley Centre PRECIS Regional Climate Model. In Advances in meteorology, climatology and atmospheric physics, 547–554. Springer.

  • Lejeusne, C., P. Chevaldonné, C. Pergent-Martini, C.F. Boudouresque, and T. Pérez. 2010. Climate change effects on a miniature ocean: the highly diverse, highly impacted Mediterranean Sea. Trends in Ecology & Evolution 25 (4): 250–260.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lelieveld, J., P. Hadjinicolaou, E. Kostopoulou, J. Chenoweth, M. El Maayar, C. Giannakopoulos, C. Hannides, M. Lange, M. Tanarhte, and E. Tyrlis. 2012. Climate change and impacts in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Climatic Change 114 (3-4): 667–687.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lesk, C., P. Rowhani, and N. Ramankutty. 2016. Influence of extreme weather disasters on global crop production. Nature 529 (7584): 84–87.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Lipkin, Y., and U. Safriel. 1971. Intertidal zonation of the rocky shores at Mikhmoret (Mediterranean, Israel). Journal of Ecology 59 (1): 1–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mann, M.E., and P.H. Gleick. 2015. Climate change and California drought in the 21st century. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 112 (13): 3858–3859.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Marbà, N., G. Jorda, S. Agusti, C. Girard, and C.M. Duarte. 2015. Footprints of climate change on Mediterranean Sea biota. Frontiers in Marine Science 2.

  • Martone, P.T., M. Alyono, and S. Stites. 2010. Bleaching of an intertidal coralline alga: untangling the effects of light, temperature, and desiccation. Marine Ecology Progress Series 416: 57–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mislan, K.A.S., C.A. Blanchette, B.R. Broitman, and L. Washburn. 2011. Spatial variability of emergence, splash, surge, and submergence in wave-exposed rocky-shore ecosystems. Limnology and Oceanography 56 (3): 857–866.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Molinos, J.G., B.S. Halpern, D.S. Schoeman, C.J. Brown, W. Kiessling, P.J. Moore, J.M. Pandolfi, E.S. Poloczanska, A.J. Richardson, and M.T. Burrows. 2015. Climate velocity and the future global redistribution of marine biodiversity. Nature Climate Change.

  • Montes-Hugo, M., S.C. Doney, H.W. Ducklow, W. Fraser, D. Martinson, S.E. Stammerjohn, and O. Schofield. 2009. Recent changes in phytoplankton communities associated with rapid regional climate change along the western Antarctic Peninsula. Science 323 (5920): 1470–1473.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Norton, T. 1992. Dispersal by macroalgae. British Phycological Journal 27 (3): 293–301.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Osetinsky, I. 2006. Climate changes over the E. Mediterranean—a synoptic systems classification approach. Tel Aviv: University Tel Aviv University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ozer, T., I. Gertman, N. Kress, J. Silverman, and B. Herut. 2016. Interannual thermohaline (1979–2014) and nutrient (2002–2014) dynamics in the Levantine surface and intermediate water masses. Global and Planetary Change: SE Mediterranean Sea.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pala, C. 2016. Corals tie stronger El Niños to climate change: American Association for the Advancement of Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Parmesan, C., and G. Yohe. 2003. A globally coherent fingerprint of climate change impacts across natural systems. Nature 421 (6918): 37–42.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Petes, L.E., B.A. Menge, and G.D. Murphy. 2007. Environmental stress decreases survival, growth, and reproduction in New Zealand mussels. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 351 (1-2): 83–91.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Prendergast, A., M. Azzopardi, T. O'Connell, C. Hunt, G. Barker, and R. Stevens. 2013. Oxygen isotopes from Phorcus (Osilinus) turbinatus shells as a proxy for sea surface temperature in the central Mediterranean: a case study from Malta. Chemical Geology 345: 77–86.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Prusina, I., G. Sarà, M. De Pirro, Y.-W. Dong, G.-D. Han, B. Glamuzina, and G.A. Williams. 2014. Variations in physiological responses to thermal stress in congeneric limpets in the Mediterranean Sea. Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 456: 34–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rilov, G. 2016. Multi-species collapses at the warm edge of a warming sea. Scientific Reports 6 (1).

  • Rilov, G., Y. Benayahu, and A. Gasith. 2004. Prolonged lag in population outbreak of an invasive mussel: a shifting-habitat model. Biological Invasions 6 (3): 347–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivetti, I., S. Fraschetti, P. Lionello, E. Zambianchi, and F. Boero. 2014. Global warming and mass mortalities of benthic invertebrates in the Mediterranean Sea. PLoS One 9 (12): e115655.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romm, J. 2011. Desertification: The next dust bowl. Nature 478 (7370): 450–451.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rosen, S.D., L. Raskin, and B. Galanti. 2013. Long-term characteristics of sea level, wave, wind and current at central Mediterranean coast of Israel from 20 years of data at GLOSS station 80—Hadera. In 40th CIESM Congress. Marseille.

  • Saaroni, H., B. Ziv, A. Bitan, and P. Alpert. 1998. Easterly wind storms over Israel. Theoretical and Applied Climatology 59 (1-2): 61–77.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Saaroni, H., B. Ziv, I. Osetinsky, and P. Alpert. 2010. Factors governing the interannual variation and the long-term trend of the 850 hPa temperature over Israel. Quarterly Journal of the Royal Meteorological Society 136: 305–318.

    Google Scholar 

  • Safriel, U.N. 1974. Vermetid gastropods and intertidal reefs in Israel and Bermuda. Science 186 (4169): 1113–1115.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Safriel, U.N. 1975. The role of vermetid gastropods in the formation of Mediterranean and Atlantic reefs. Oecologia (Berlin) 20 (1): 85–101.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Shentsis, I., J.B. Laronne, and P. Alpert. 2012. Red Sea Trough flood events in the Negev, Israel (1964–2007). Hydrological Sciences Journal 57 (1): 42–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sisma-Ventura, G., R. Yam, and A. Shemesh. 2014. Recent unprecedented warming and oligotrophy of the eastern Mediterranean Sea within the last millennium. Geophysical Research Letters 41 (14): 5158–5166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sydeman, W., M. García-Reyes, D. Schoeman, R. Rykaczewski, S. Thompson, B. Black, and S. Bograd. 2014. Climate change and wind intensification in coastal upwelling ecosystems. Science 345 (6192): 77–80.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Tielbörger, K., M.C. Bilton, J. Metz, J. Kigel, C. Holzapfel, E. Lebrija-Trejos, I. Konsens, H.A. Parag, and M. Sternberg. 2014. Middle-eastern plant communities tolerate 9 years of drought in a multi-site climate manipulation experiment. Nature Communications 5: 5102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ummenhofer, C.C., and G.A. Meehl. 2017. Extreme weather and climate events with ecological relevance: a review. The royal society B 372: 20160135.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasseur, D.A., J.P. DeLong, B. Gilbert, H.S. Greig, C.D. Harley, K.S. McCann, V. Savage, T.D. Tunney, and M.I. O'Connor. 2014. Increased temperature variation poses a greater risk to species than climate warming. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 281 (1779): 20132612.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Visser, M.E., and C. Both. 2005. Shifts in phenology due to global climate change: the need for a yardstick. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B: Biological Sciences 272 (1581): 2561–2569.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wallace, L.R. 1972. Some factors affecting vertical distribution and resistance to desiccation in the limpet, Acmaea testudinalis (Muller). The Biological Bulletin 142 (1): 186–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wernberg, T., S. Bennett, R.C. Babcock, T. de Bettignies, K. Cure, M. Depczynski, F. Dufois, J. Fromont, C.J. Fulton, R.K. Hovey, E.S. Harvey, T.H. Holmes, G.A. Kendrick, B. Radford, J. Santana-Garcon, B.J. Saunders, D.A. Smale, M.S. Thomsen, C.A. Tuckett, F. Tuya, M.A. Vanderklift, and S. Wilson. 2016. Climate-driven regime shift of a temperate marine ecosystem. Science 353 (6295): 169–172.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G.A., and D. Morritt. 1995. Habitat partitioning and thermal tolerance in a tropical limpet, Cellana grata. Marine Ecology Progress Series 124: 89–103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams, G.A., C. Little, D. Morritt, P. Stirling, L. Teagle, A. Miles, G. Pilling, and M. Consalvey. 1999. Foraging in the limpet Patella vulgata: the influence of rock slope on the timing of activity. Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the UK 79 (5): 881–890.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yeruham, E., G. Rilov, M. Shpigel, and A. Abelson. 2015. Collapse of the echinoid Paracentrotus lividus populations in the Eastern Mediterranean—result of climate change? Scientific Reports 5 (1): 13479.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, X., E. Aguilar, S. Sensoy, H. Melkonyan, U. Tagiyeva, N. Ahmed, N. Kutaladze, F. Rahimzadeh, A. Taghipour, and T. Hantosh. 2005. Trends in Middle East climate extreme indices from 1950 to 2003. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres 110 (D22).

Download references

Acknowledgments

We thank T. Guy-Haim for assistance in the design and analysis of the experiments and L. Sever, E. Ilotoviz, E. Yeruham, and O. Rave in data collection and analysis. This article is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Rana Samuels, an extraordinary climate researcher who helped with the climate data analysis and the initial design of the study.

Funding

This research was supported in part by the Smaller-Winnikow Scholarship Fund in cooperation with the Keren Kayemet L’Israel (Jewish National Fund—JNF) (to RZ), the Porter School for Environmental Studies, the Israel Science Foundation, grant number 1217/10 (to GR), the Marie Curie Reintegration Programme under the EU Seventh Framework, grant number 249147 (to GR), and the Ministry of Environmental Protection (supporting IOLR National Monitoring Program).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. National Institute of Oceanography, Israel Oceanographic and Limnological Research, Haifa, Israel

    Reut Zamir & Gil Rilov

  2. The Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Reut Zamir

  3. Department of Geophysics, Tel-Aviv University, 69978, Tel-Aviv, Israel

    Pinhas Alpert

Authors
  1. Reut Zamir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Pinhas Alpert
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Gil Rilov
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Gil Rilov.

Additional information

Communicated by Patricia Ramey-Balci

Electronic Supplementary Material

ESM 1

(DOCX 17 kb)

ESM 2

(DOCX 16 kb)

ESM 3

(DOCX 687 kb)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Zamir, R., Alpert, P. & Rilov, G. Increase in Weather Patterns Generating Extreme Desiccation Events: Implications for Mediterranean Rocky Shore Ecosystems. Estuaries and Coasts 41, 1868–1884 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0408-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12237-018-0408-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation