ABOUT MARILYN
SORT BLOGS
Select an Author:
Select a Center:
Most Common Tags:
Climate change (39)
Arctic Ocean (25)
Changing Arctic Sea Ice (17)
Ocean and Climate Literacy (9)
ROLE Model Webinar (9)
concept mapping (8)
Ocean Acidification (8)
Alaska Marine Ecosystems (7)
Communicating about Climate Change (7)
Marine Ecosystem Science (7)
07.28.10 webinar (5)
08.10.10 webinar (5)
10.06.10 webinar (5)
Bering Sea (5)
Communicating Science (5)
COSEE OCEAN (5)
Culturally-relevant Science Education (5)
carbon cycle (4)
Carbon Cycling (4)
educator post (4)
hydrothermal vents (4)
scientist post (4)
10.20.10 webinar (3)
Alaska K-12 Science Education (3)
Changing Species Distributions (3)
Gray Whale (3)
Herring (3)
icebergs (3)
network (3)
network science (3)
networks (3)
oil spill (3)
Polar Bear (3)
Walrus (3)
02.16.11 webinar (2)
11.03.10 webinar (2)
aerosols (2)
AGU (2)
Alaska Native Perspectives on Climate Change (2)
Changes in Alaska Marine Ecosystems (2)
Changing Ocean Current Patterns (2)
conferences (2)
graduate students (2)
Gulf of Alaska (2)
Humpback Whales (2)
leadership (2)
MSP (2)
Salmon (2)
SEWG (2)
Temperature Patterns (2)
Traditional Knowledge (2)
03.23.11 webinar (1)
09.22.10 webinar (1)
11.17.10 webinar (1)
12.01.10 webinar (1)
Alaska Marine Ecosystem (1)
Alaska Natives (1)
Arctic Ecosystems (1)
Arctic Sea Ice (1)
ASLO (1)
Atlantic Crossing (1)
biological pump (1)
Bowhead Whale (1)
carbon sequestration (1)
case study (1)
Changes in Ocean Current Systems (1)
Changing Alaska Marine Ecosystems (1)
chemical oceanography (1)
Climate Change Impacts on Alaska Marine Ecosystems (1)
Climate Change. Sea Level Rise (1)
climate intervention (1)
collaboration (1)
Collaborative Research (1)
communicating (1)
COSEE New England (1)
COSEE OLC (1)
COSEE SouthEast (1)
data (1)
Deepwater Horizon (1)
Education and Outreach (1)
EE Week (1)
ENTs (1)
estuaries (1)
Global Climate Change (1)
groups (1)
Gulf of Mexico (1)
Gulf Stream (1)
Hear the Answer (1)
Heat storage in the Ocean (1)
informal science education (1)
Intertidal Community Ecology (1)
iron (1)
K-12 Science Education (1)
King Salmon (1)
Lesson plans (1)
lobsters (1)
Long-term Temperature Patterns (1)
Marine Ecosystems (1)
Methane Hydrates (1)
microbes (1)

Blogs
Sea Star Swells With Tides 11/17/09
11/23/2009 | Marilyn Sigman, Alaska SeaGrant/MAP
Tags: Marine Ecosystem Science, Climate Change, Sea Stars, Intertidal Community Ecology

By LiveScience Staff

sea stars
A species of sea star (the ochre star, Pisaster ochraceus) has figured out a novel way of keeping cool on rocky shorelines. The animal literally soaks up chilly water during high tides to protect itself from the blazing temperatures that persist when the tide goes out, scientists announced today. (Based on the article Sylvain Pincebourde, Eric Sanford, and Brian Helmuth. An Intertidal Sea Star Adjusts Thermal Inertia to Avoid Extreme Body Temperatures. The American Naturalist, 2009; 174 (6): 890 DOI: 10.1086/648065)

"Sea stars were assumed to be at the mercy of the sun during low tide," said the lead study researcher Sylvain Pincebourde of François Rabelais University in Tours, France. "This work shows that some sea stars have an unexpected back-up strategy."

"This strategy only works when the sea water is colder than the air," said study researcher Eric Sanford of the University if California, Davis. "Ocean warming might therefore break down this buffering mechanism, making this sea star susceptible to global warming. There are likely limits to how much this mechanism can buffer this animal against global change."
Full story

Another recent study, however, found that P. ochraceus might grow faster as the water warms. (See Sea Stars Grow Faster as Water Warms by Stephan Reebs, Natural History Magazine, article posted on livescience on 9/18/09.
(Based on a study conducted by Rebecca A. Gooding and Christopher D.G. Harley, University of British Columbia, Vancouver and published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.)



Back to Blogs - Home