Orientador: Rogerio Caetano da Costa / Banca: Vivian Fransozo Cunha / Banca: Fabiano Gazzi Taddei / Resumo: O presente estudo teve como objetivo investigar a distribuição espacial e temporal do camarão Nematopalaemon schmitti, em Macaé/RJ, bem como verificar a influência dos fatores ambientais (temperatura, salinidade, clorofila-a, textura e teor de matéria orgânica do sedimento) na abundância e distribuição da espécie. As coletas foram realizadas mensalmente, de julho/2010 a junho/2011, com um barco camaroneiro, equipado com redes de arrasto "double-rig". Três pontos foram delimitados, distribuídos nas profundidades de 5 e 15m. Amostras de água e do sedimento foram coletadas para análise dos fatores ambientais. Obteve-se um total de 1200 exemplares. A distribuição dos indivíduos apresentou diferença entre as estações do ano e os pontos (ANOVA, p<0,05). Nematopalaemon schmitti foi mais abundante no inverno e no ponto três. Houve uma correlação da abundância com a concentração de menor teor de matéria orgânica no sedimento (Regressão Múltipla, p<0,05). A retração da ACAS e, consequentemente, a homogeneidade da temperatura da água de fundo no inverno influenciaram na distribuição temporal da espécie, assim como a maior abundância registrada no ponto três coincidiu com a maior concentração de clorofila-a do local, e pode ter modulado em termos espaciais. Apesar da correlação com o menor teor de matéria orgânica, a literatura aponta que os outros substratos como algas e fragmentos de madeira e o sedimento propriamente dito podem ser mais determinante em sua presença como visto para outras espécies de carídeos. Os fatores ambientais analisados mostraram-se fundamentais para o estabelecimento da espécie no litoral fluminense, que é uma área de limites de distribuição para muitas espécies, devido, principalmente, às características apresentadas na região de Cabo Frio/RJ / Abstract: The present study aimed to investigate the spatial-temporal distribution of the shrimp Nematopalaemon schmitti from Macaé/RJ and to verify the influence of environmental factors (temperature, salinity, a-chlorophyll, texture and content of sediment organic matter) on the abundance and the distribution of the species. Samples were performed monthly, from July/2010 to June/2011, with a shrimp fishery boat equipped with a double rig net system. Three stations were sampled, ranging from 5 to 15 m deep. Water and sediment samples were collected for environmental analysis purposes. A total of 1200 individuals were collected. The distribution of the specimens showed a difference among seasons and among stations (ANOVA, p<0.05). Nematopalaemon schmitti was more abundant on the winter and at station three. There was a correlation of the abundance with the lowest concentration of organic matter in the sediment (Multiple Regression, p<0.05). The SACW retraction and the consequent homogeneity of bottom water temperature in the winter influentieted the temporal distribution of the species, as well as the highest abundance recorded at station three coincided with the highest concentration of a-chlorophyll at the region, and it may have been spatially modulated. Besides the correlation with the lowest content of organic matter, literature says that other substrates, such as algae, wood fragments and the sediment itself, can be more determinant on abundance, as seen for other caridean species. The environmental factors here analyzed shown to be essential for the establishment of this species at Rio de Janeiro coast, which is considered as a limit area for many species, mainly due to the conditions of Cabo Frio/RJ region / Mestre

Orientador: Rogerio Caetano da Costa / Banca: Fabiano Gazzi Taddei / Banca: Gustavo Luis Hirose / Banca: Valter José Cobo / Banca: Rafael Augusto Gregati / Resumo: Considerando que a atividade pesqueira é responsável por aproximadamente 40% da alimentação da população mundial, estudos envolvendo uma mesma espécie explorada comercialmente na maioria dos estados brasileiros tornam-se indispensáveis para um uso sustentável deste recurso. Assim, no presente estudo, a dinâmica populacional (estrutura populacional, crescimento e longevidade, correlação entre as fêmeas reprodutivas e juvenis com os fatores ambientais, maturidade sexual, períodos reprodutivo e de recrutamento e razão sexual) do camarão sete-barbas Xiphopenaeus kroyeri foi investigada comparando duas regiões do sudeste brasileiro, sendo uma no litoral do estado Rio de Janeiro e outra no litoral do estado de São Paulo, ou seja, uma acima porém adjacente à ressurgência de Cabo Frio (Macaé-RJ; 22º 37'S e 41º 78'W), e outra abaixo e distante deste fenômeno (Ubatuba-SP, 23º27'S e 45º02'W). Adicionalmente, por meio da análise da morfometria tradicional, uma comparação entre populações do camarão sete-barbas amostradas em oito regiões do litoral brasileiro foi realizada. Para as coletas do material biológico, utilizou-se um barco camaroneiro equipado com redes do tipo "double-rig". Os fatores ambientais foram amostrados com uma garrafa de Van Dorn (água de superfície e fundo) e um coletor de sedimento do tipo Van Veen. Das amostras de água foram medidas temperatura e salinidade, e quantificada a clorofila-a. Os tamanhos médios dos camarões amostrados na região de Macaé foram maiores em todas as categorias demográficas (indivíduos juvenis, adultos e reprodutivos de ambos os sexos), quando comparados aos amostrados em Ubatuba. Adicionalmente, as fêmeas foram significativamente maiores que os machos em ambas as regiões. As maiores longevidades também foram registradas para as fêmeas em relação aos machos tanto em Macaé como em Ubatuba. Sugere-se que tanto os menores valores da temperatura... / Abstract: Considering that fishing industry is responsible for almost 40% of world food supply, studies involving species commercially exploited in main Brazilian states are of great importance for the sustainable use of this resource. The present study investigated the population dynamics (population structure, growth and longevity, correlation between reproductive females and juveniles with environmental factors, sexual maturity, reproductive periods and recruitment and sex ratio) of the seabob shrimp Xiphopenaeus kroyeri, comparing two regions of southeastern Brazil. One region is located above but adjacent to the Cabo Frio upwelling (Macaé-RJ; 22º 37'S and 41º 78'W) on the coast of Rio de Janeiro state; the other region is located below and far from the mentioned upwelling (Ubatuba-SP, 23º27'S e 45º02'W), on the coast of São Paulo state. Additionally, population samples of the seabob shrimp collected in eight regions of Brazilian coast were compared using traditional morphometry analysis. A shrimp boat equipped with double-rig trawl nets was used for biological material sampling. Environmental factors were sampled with a Van Dorn bottle (surface and bottom water) and a Van Veen sediment collector. Temperature and salinity were measured from water samples, as well as chlorophyll-a was quantified. The mean sizes of the shrimp sampled in Macaé region were higher in all demographic categories (juveniles, adults and reproductive male and female) when compared to that sampled in Ubatuba region. Females were significantly higher and had greater longevities when compared to males in both regions. Both lower temperature values and greater longevities in Macaé region may have driven the variation in size when compared to Ubatuba sizes. In Macaé, reproductive females and juveniles correlated with organic matter content, and juveniles correlated with bottom water salinity. In Ubatuba, just chlorophyll-a had a correlation with reproductive ... / Doutor

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Joint Program in Physical Oceanography (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences; and the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution), February 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 235-243). / A detailed examination of the development of a deep convection event observed in the Greenland Sea in 1988-89 is carried out through a combination of modeling, scale estimates, and data analysis. We develop a prognostic one-dimensional mixed layer model which is coupled to a thermodynamic ice model. Our model contains a representation of the lowest order boundary layer dynamics and adjustable coupling strengths between the mixed layer, ice, and atmosphere. We find that the model evolution is not very sensitive to the strength of the coupling between the ice and the mixed layer sufficiently far away from the limits of zero and infinite coupling; we interpret this result in physical terms. Further, we derive an analytical expression which provides a scale estimate of the rate of salinification of the mixed layer during the ice-covered preconditioning period as a function of the rate of ice advection. / by Jay Alan Austin. / Ph.D.

Orientadores: Ivan Sazima, Carlos Eduardo Leite Ferreira / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-18T21:56:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 LuizJunior_OsmarJose_M.pdf: 5451042 bytes, checksum: 29619a9d7010f69a9bd352d2cbc12792 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O Parque Estadual Marinho da Laje de Santos localiza-se na costa sudeste do Brasil a 36 km da cidade de Santos, Estado de São Paulo. O Parque consiste uma pequena ilha (Laje de Santos) com vários parcéis rochosos submersos. O substrato é composto por rochas graníticas cobertas por algas e várias espécies de invertebrados. Desde 1993, foi declarada como área de proteção marinha e desde então o local é de particular interesse, pois é a única área totalmente fechada para a pesca na região mais povoada e desenvolvida do país. Uma lista com 196 espécies de peixes recifais registradas é apresentada para o Parque Estadual Marinho da Laje de Santos. A maioria das espécies tem ocorrência comum a todo o Atlântico Ocidental tropical ou ocorre nos dois lados do Oceano Atlântico. Uma parte menor das espécies tem distribuição em comum com os recifes rochosos temperados da Patagônia ou é endêmica ao Sudeste do Brasil. Moringua edwardsi, Antennarius multiocellatus, Scorpaena dispar, Aulostomus strigosus, Lutjanus buccanella, Mulloidichthys martinicus and Halichoeres penrosei tem aqui seu limite merional de distribuição estendido ao Estado de São Paulo. Há uma clara diferença na contribuição dos fatores abióticos para a estruturação da comunidade de peixes recifais. A profundidade foi o fator que mais influenciou a riqueza de espécies e abundância de indivíduos, apresentação uma clara distinção ambiental entre raso e fundo, com um decréscimo da riqueza e abundância conforme o aumento da profundidade. A complexidade do habitat também foi um fator de influência na comunidade, sendo a riqueza e abundância correlacionada com maior complexidade. Entretanto, esta relação só foi significativa na menor profundidade avaliada. A exposição às ondas não se correlacionou com nenhum dos descritores da comunidade utilizados neste estudo. Aparentemente os efeitos do hidrodinamismo em recifes rochosos se manifesta em escalas espaciais maiores entre a costa e ilhas com diferentes distâncias da costa. Espécies de diferentes categorias tróficas não respondem da mesma maneira a estes fatores. Herbívoros vagueadores são afetados pela profundidade, herbívoros territoriais pela complexidade e pela exposição a ondas, enquanto que planctívoros são afetados pela complexidade do habitat e em menor extensão pela profundidade. Análises de espécies filogeneticamente relacionadas sugerem que ocorre partição de nicho, aparentemente mediada pela capacidade de natação em resposta ao grande dinamismo que ocorre nas zonas rasas. A água fria oriunda de eventos de reesurgência foi um fator de redução da abundância e número de espécies capazes de extender sua distribuição batimétrica para as zonas mais fundas, desencadeando respostas comportamentais específicas em algumas espécies como a formação de densos cardumes na camada superficial durante os eventos de ressurgência. Herbívoros vagueadores e onívoros foram os grupos tróficos que foram particularmente afetados pela intrusão de água fria. Em geral, espécies com alta capacidade de mobilidade evitam a camada de água fria abaixo da termoclina durante o verão e espécies de pequena capacidade de mobilidade ou extremamente territoriais não alteram sua abundância em resposta estes eventos / Abstract: The Laje de Santos State Marine Park is located on the southeastern coast of Brazil, 36 km off the city of Santos, São Paulo State. It consists of an uninhabited islet and several sparse rocky reefs with extensive sand bottoms in between. The subtidal substrate is composed of granitic boulders of varying sizes and shapes. The rocky substrate is mainly covered with patches of algae and several species of sessile invertebrates. Since 1993 the Laje de Santos Island was declared a protected area. The area is of particular interest as this is the only Marine Protected Area totally closed to fishing in the most populated and developed region of Brazil. A check-list containing 196 species of reef fishes recorded at the Laje de Santos Marine State Park is presented. Most of them occur along the tropical western Atlantic or occur on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. A minor part ranges to the temperate rocky reefs of Patagonia or are endemics to southeastern Brazil. Moringua edwardsi, Antennarius multiocellatus, Scorpaena dispar, Aulostomus strigosus, Lutjanus buccanella, Mulloidichthys martinicus and Halichoeres penrosei have here their ranges extended southward to the São Paulo coast. There is a clear difference among the contributions of each abiotic factors analyzed in the reef fish community structure. Depth was the most influent factor on species richness and abundance, presenting a clear distinction between shallow and deep zones with a decrease of both factors with depth increase. Habitat complexity also had an influence in the community, being species richness and abundance correlated with higher complexity. However, this relationship was significant on the shallower evaluated depth only. Exposition to wave surge does not correlate with any of the community descriptors used in this study. Apparently, hydrodynamics effects on rocky reefs manifest only at larger spatial scales like between the shore and islands. Species on different trophic categories do not respond the same way to these factors. Vagrant herbivores are affected by depth; territorial herbivores by habitat complexity and marginally by exposition, and planktivorous are affected mostly by habitat complexity and in less extension by depth. Analyses of phylogenetically related species suggest that niche partitioning occur, apparently mediated by swimming capacity in response to higher hydrodynamic forces occurring in shallow water. Cold water derived from upwelling events was a further factor reducing species richness and abundance, triggering specific behavioral responses in some species such as the formation of tight packed schools in the surface layer during upwelling. Vagrant herbivores and omnivores were the trophic groups most affected by upwelling. In general, species with high mobility capacity avoid the cold-water layer below the thermocline during summer and species with limited mobility capacity do not change their abundance is response to these events / Mestrado / Ecologia / Mestre em Ecologia

The upwelling and cross-shelf transport dynamics along the Pacific Eastern Boundary is explored using a high resolution ocean model for the last 60 years. Three ocean circulations have been modeled. From North to South, we investigate the dynamics of the Gulf of Alaska (GOA), the California Current System (CCS) and the Humboldt Current System (HCS, also known as the Peru-Chile Current System). The statistics of coastal waters transport are computed using a model passive tracer, which is continuously released at the coast. By looking at the passive tracer concentration distribution, we find that the Pacific Decadal Oscillation modulates the coastal variability of the GOA, the North Pacific Gyre Oscillation controls the upwelling of the CCS, while the El-Niño Southern Oscillation affects the upwelling of Peru and Chile mainly through coastally trapped Kelvin waves. Results also emphasize the key role of the mesoscale eddies in the offshore transport of coastal waters masses. The passive tracer experiments, performed in this study in the GOA, CCS, and HCS, therefore could provide a dynamical framework to understand the dynamics of the upwelling/downwelling and offshore transport of nutrient rich coastal water and to interpret how it responds to atmospheric forcing. This also could reinforce our interpretation (and therefore predictions) in the changes in vertical and offshore advection of other important biogeochemical quantities, essential in understanding ecosystem variability.

The high productivity of Eastern Boundary Upwelling Ecosystems (EBUE), some of the most productive ecosystems in the globe, is attributed to the nutrient rich waters brought up through upwelling. Climate change scenarios for coastal upwelling systems, predict an intensification of coastal upwelling winds. Associated with intensification in upwelling are biogeochemical changes such as ocean hypoxia and ocean acidification. In recent years, the California Current System (CCS) has experienced the occurrence of nearshore hypoxia and the novel rise of anoxia. This has been attributed to changes in the intensity of upwelling wind stress. The effects of some of the more severe hypoxia and anoxia events in the CCS have been mass mortality of fish and benthic invertebrates. However, the impacts on zooplankton in this system are not known. Meroplankton, those organisms which have a planktonic stage for only part of their life cycle, are an important component of zooplankton communities. The larval stage of benthic invertebrates forms an important link between benthic adult communities and planktonic communities. Larvae serve to disperse individuals to new locations and to link populations. They are also food for fish and planktonic invertebrates. This important life stage can spend long periods in the plankton (from days to months) where environmental conditions can affect larval health, subsequent settlement and recruitment success, and juvenile health. This research assesses the role of hypoxia and larval survivorship, and the relationship between individual abundance and community structure of larvae to environmental factors in the field. In laboratory experiments (Chapter 2), a suite of 10 rocky intertidal invertebrate species from four phyla were exposed to low oxygen conditions representative of the nearshore environment of the Oregon coast. Results revealed a wide range in tolerances from species with little tolerance (e.g. the shore crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis) to species with high tolerance (e.g. the California mussel Mytilus californianus). The differential responses across larvae to chronic hypoxia and anoxia potentially could affect their recruitment success and consequently, the structure and species composition of intertidal communities. Field studies (Chapter 3 & 4) explore the relationship between environmental variables and larval abundance and community structure. Chapter 3 focuses on broad taxonomic groups, while Chapter 4 focuses on larval decapods in particular. Fine focus was devoted to decapod larvae, due to laboratory findings of heightened sensitivity to hypoxia of decapod crabs. A finding that is also supported in the literature. The goal of field studies was to identify the environmental parameters that structure meroplankton and larval decapod communities and identify which of these parameters play a significant role in influencing larval abundance. A number of environmental variables contributed to meroplankton assemblage structure and larval decapod assemblage structure. These included distance from shore, depth, date, upwelling intensity, dissolved oxygen, and cumulative wind stress. Some of these factors occurred frequently in larval abundance models. In Chapter 3, individual abundance across broad taxonomic groups was most commonly explained by upwelling intensity while in Chapter 4, individual abundance of different decapod species was explained by cumulative wind stress, which is a proxy for upwelling intensity. The prominent role of upwelling related factors in explaining individual abundance is important considering climate change projections of an increased intensification of upwelling winds in EBUE. / Graduation date: 2012 / Access restricted to the OSU Community at author's request from Jan. 6, 2012 - Jan. 6, 2013

Deep-sea bamboo coral (Isidella sp.) SE000901A from the southern Oregon coast (water depth 1048m) provides a high-resolution record of variability of North Pacific Intermediate Water (NPIW) and carbon rain to the sea floor, related to coastal upwelling, from 1808 to 2000AD. Counting of annual layers in magnesium to calcium (Mg/Ca) variations, measured by electron microprobe analysis, yields a detailed age model that is transferred directly to records of carbon and oxygen isotope ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O) measured by isotope ratio mass spectrometry and trace element ratios measured by laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). A significant linear relationship between δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O measured on the carbonate internode of the coral specimen revealed disequilibrium kinetic isotopic variations that depend on calcification rate. The stable isotopic time series are significantly correlated to cadmium to calcium ratios (Cd/Ca) in the carbonate internode, suggesting that cadmium uptake also reflects the rate of calcification. Comparison of phosphorus to calcium ratios (P/Ca) in the carbonate internode to historical records of oxygen concentrations of NPIW suggests that coralline P/Ca is related to the phosphate content of the ambient bottom water, which covaries inversely with oxygen concentration. Stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic ratios (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) were measured on two organic gorgonin nodes of our bamboo coral, but incomplete understanding of the gorgonin growth patterns and the difficulty in translating ages between the proteinaceous node and calcareous internode preclude detailed comparison between organic stable isotopes and the trace element and isotopic composition of the well-dated carbonate proxies. Based on correlation of the measured properties to historical variations in coastal upwelling, and high-latitude climate variability, we demonstrate the potential and challenges in using deep-sea bamboo corals to extend records of climate variability into the pre-historical past. / Graduation date: 2012

Nearshore hypoxia within the Northern California Current (NCC) system is a seasonal phenomenon caused by coastal upwelling and occurs mainly during late-summer and early fall. The effects of low oxygen levels on fish and invertebrate communities, particularly during early-life history stages, however, are poorly known for this area. I investigated the effects of hypoxia on the density, community structure, vertical and horizontal distribution of fish larvae and juveniles, as well as body condition of juveniles, along the central Oregon and Washington coasts during the summers of 2008 - 2011. During this sampling period, bottom dissolved oxygen (DO) values ranged from 0.49 to 9.85 ml l�����, and the number of hypoxic (e.g., < 1.4 ml l�����) stations sampled was low compared to 2002 and 2006 (only 54 sampling stations for the ichthyoplankton study out of 493, and only 12 stations out of 90 for the benthic juvenile study). From the ichthyoplankton study, I found that the overall density of fish larvae increased as bottom-DO values increased; however, the effect on individual species density was limited. Between 44.65 ��N and 46.00 ��N (~Florence, OR ��� Astoria, OR), fish larvae altered their vertical distribution when bottom-DO was low by rising in shallower water layers. From the benthic juvenile study, I found that English sole (Parophrys vetulus), butter sole (Isopsetta isolepis), speckled sanddab (Citharichthys stigmaeus) and Pacific sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus) dominated the catch with annual variation in abundances. Species composition, abundance and length had strong relationships with depth. Species abundance for English sole (< 75 mm), speckled sanddab (<100 mm) and Pacific sanddab also increased with increased bottom-DO. However, the body condition of butter sole (< 75 mm) and of large speckled sanddab (���100 mm) increased with decreased bottom-DO. Overall my research elucidates important patterns of larval and juvenile fish distribution within the NCC during summer. In both studies I have found a limited effect of DO on abundance, distribution and community assemblages. Variables other than DO, such as depth, season and location, dominated the explained variance of the intervening multivariate and univariate analysis. However, due to the paucity of samples during hypoxic events, continued monitoring of nearshore larval and juvenile species over varying hypoxic conditions is necessary for understanding the impact of hypoxia on these communities and subsequent adult populations. / Graduation date: 2013

Most climate change predictions focus on the response of individual species to changing local conditions and ignore species interactions, largely due to the lack of a sound theoretical foundation for how interactions are expected to change with climate and how to incorporate them into climate change models. Much of the variability in species interaction strengths may be governed by fundamental constraints on physiological rates, possibly providing a framework for including species interactions into climate change models. Metabolic rates, ingestion rates and many other physiological rates are relatively predictable from body size and body temperature due to constraints imposed by the physical and chemical laws that govern fluid dynamics and the kinetics of biochemical reaction times. My dissertation assesses the usefulness of this framework by exploring the community-level consequences of physiological constraints. In Chapter 2, I incorporated temperature and body size scaling into the biological rate parameters of a series of realistically structured trophic network models. The relative magnitude of the temperature scaling parameters affecting consumer energetic costs (metabolic rates) and energetic gains (ingestion rates) determined how consumer energetic efficiency changed with temperature. I systematically changed consumer energetic efficiency and examined the sensitivity of network stability and species persistence to various temperatures. I found that a species' probability of extinction depended primarily on the effects of organismal physiology (body size and energetic efficiency with respect to temperature) and secondarily on the effects of local food web structure (trophic level and consumer generality). This suggests that physiology is highly influential on the structure and dynamics of ecological communities. If consumer energetic efficiency declined as temperature increased, that is, species did best at lower temperatures, then the simulated networks had greater stability at lower temperatures. The opposite scenario resulted in greater stability at higher temperatures. Thus, much of the community-level response depends on what species energetic efficiencies at the organismal-level really are, which formed the research question for Chapter 3: How does consumer energetic efficiency change with temperature? Existing evidence is scarce but suggestive of decreasing consumer energetic efficiency with increasing temperature. I tested this hypothesis on seven rocky intertidal invertebrate species by measuring the relative temperature scaling of their metabolic and ingestion rates as well as consumer interaction strength under lab conditions. Energetic efficiencies of these rocky intertidal invertebrates declined and species interaction strengths tended to increase with temperature. Thus, in the rocky intertidal, the mechanistic effect of temperature would be to lower community stability at higher temperatures. Chapter 4 tests if the mechanistic effects of temperature on ingestion rates and species interaction strengths seen in the lab are apparent under field conditions. Bruce Menge and I related bio-mimetic estimates of body temperatures to estimates of per capita mussel ingestion rates and species interaction strengths by the ochre sea star Pisaster ochraceus, a keystone predator of the rocky intertidal. We found a strong, positive effect of body temperature on both per capita ingestion rates and interaction strengths. However, the effects of season and the unique way in which P. ochraceus regulates body temperatures were also apparent, leaving room for adaptation and acclimation to partially compensate for the mechanistic constraint of body temperature. Community structure of the rocky intertidal is associated with environmental forcing due to upwelling, which delivers cold, nutrient rich water to the nearshore environment. As upwelling is driven by large-scale atmospheric pressure gradients, climate change has the potential to affect a wide range of significant ecological processes through changes in water temperature. In Chapter 5, my coauthors and I identified long-term trends in the phenology of upwelling events that are consistent with climate change predictions: upwelling events are becoming stronger and longer. As expected, longer upwelling events were related to lower average water temperatures in the rocky intertidal. Furthermore, recruitment rates of barnacles and mussels were associated with the phenology of upwelling events. Thus climate change is altering the mode and the tempo of environmental forcing in nearshore ecosystems, with ramifications for community structure and function. Ongoing, long-term changes in environmental forcing in rocky intertidal ecosystems provide an opportunity to understand how temperature shapes community structure and the ramifications of climate change. My dissertation research demonstrates that the effect of temperature on organismal performance is an important force structuring ecological communities and has potential as a tractable framework for predicting the community level effects of climate change. / Graduation date: 2013 / Access restricted to the OSU Community, at author's request, from Nov. 20, 2012 - Nov. 20, 2014