Table of Contents

• Coverage
• Dataset Description
  • Methods & Sampling
  • Data Processing Description
  • BCO-DMO Processing Description
• Data Files
• Supplemental Files
• Related Publications
• Related Datasets
• Parameters
• Project Information
• Funding

See "Related Datasets" section for other datasets to be published in Ng & Gaylord (2025, in-prep).  These datasets are also listed on the "Related-Resource" page for that results publication https://www.bco-dmo.org/related-resource/948176
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All datasets in this project can be viewed from the "Dataset Collections" of the project page https://www.bco-dmo.org/project/712799

We collected Nucella lamellosa at Washington Park in Anacortes, Washington (48.502190 N, -122.691865 W) in July 2018 and Balanus glandula at Campbell Cove, California (38.305586 N, -123.057861 W). Pisaster ochraceus were collected along the coastline of Sonoma County, California in 2018.

We used 20 mesocosms with five Nucella each along with Balanus glandula as the basal resource. Half of the mesocosms were used for the fear treatment where Pisaster cue was added to elicit a behavioral fear response in Nucella. Additionally, of the ten mesocosms in the fear treatment, five of the mesocosms contained morphologically induced Nucella and the other five had non-induced individuals. The morphologically induced Nucella were culled at 13% per day and the non-induced Nucella were culled at 16% per day to simulate predation events. The remaining ten mesocosms were used for the no-fear treatment and were also divided into five replicates with induced Nucella and five with non-induced snails. No predator cues were added to the no-fear treatment, and both induced and non-induced Nucella were culled at the enhanced rate of 24% per day. We enumerated the number of Balanus both before and after the experiment.

We used a generalized mixed effects linear model to analyze the number of barnacles consumed by Nucella with morphological induction and the presence of fear behavior as fixed effects. The containers the Nucella were housed in previously for the induction period were added as a random effect. A Poisson distribution was used for this model.

Organism identifiers (taxonomic names used in dataset metadata):

Scientific Name, Life Science Identifier (LSID)
Nucella lamellosa, urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:404218
Pisaster ochraceus,urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:240755
Balanus glandula, urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:394848

See "Supplemental Files" for analysis package (R-language).

* Raw data and analysis script were bundled into file barnacle_consumption_analysis_package.zip with no file changes. Attached as a supplemental file.

* Data table from submitted file "Barnacle consumption.csv" was imported into the BCO-DMO data system. Table will appear on this dataset page as Data File:
948228_v1_barnacle_nucella_consumption.csv (with other download format options).

* Bounding box for dataset determined by sampling locations provided and location of experiment at Bodega Bay Marine Laboratory (38.3180548,-123.0743098).

* Any column names with characters other than letters, numbers and underscores were renamed to meet BCO-DMO naming conventions designed to support broad re-use by a variety of research tools and scripting languages. [Only numbers, letters, and underscores. Can not start with a number]

Missing Data Identifiers:
* In the BCO-DMO data system missing data identifiers are displayed according to the format of data you access. For example, in csv files it will be blank (null) values. In Matlab .mat files it will be NaN values. When viewing data online at BCO-DMO, the missing value will be shown as blank (null) values.

* Taxonomic identifiers added to the metadata (Life Science Identifiers (LSID)). Names matched using the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) on 2024-01-02.

NSF Award Abstract:
The absorption of human-produced carbon dioxide into the world's oceans is altering the chemistry of seawater, including decreasing its pH. Such changes, collectively called "ocean acidification", are expected to influence numerous types of sea creatures. This project examines how shifts in ocean pH affect animal behavior and thus interactions among species. It uses a case study system that involves sea star predators, snail grazers that they eat, and seaweeds consumed by the latter. The rocky-shore habitats where these organisms live have a long history of attention, and new findings from this work will further extend an already-large body of marine ecological knowledge. The project provides support for graduate and undergraduate students, including underrepresented students from a nearby community college. The project underpins the development of a new educational module for local K-12 schools. Findings will moreover be communicated to the public through the use of short film documentaries, as well as through established relationships with policy, management, and industry groups, and contacts with the media.

Ocean acidification is a global-scale perturbation. Most research on the topic, however, has examined effects on single species operating in isolation, leaving interactions among species underexplored. This project confronts this knowledge gap by considering how ocean acidification may shift predator-prey relationships through altered behavior. It targets as a model system sea stars, their gastropod grazer prey, and macoalgae consumed by the latter, via four lines of inquiry. 1) The project examines the functional response of the focal taxa to altered seawater chemistry, using experiments that target up to 16 discrete levels of pH. This experimental design is essential for identifying nonlinearities and tipping points. 2) The project addresses both consumptive and non-consumptive components of direct and indirect species interactions. The capacity of ocean acidification to influence such links is poorly known, and better understanding of this issue is a recognized priority. 3) The project combines controlled laboratory experiments with field trials that exploit tide pools and their unique pH signatures as natural mesocosms. Field tests of ocean acidification effects are relatively rare and are sorely needed. 4) A final research phase expands upon the above three components to address effects of ocean acidification on multiple additional taxa that interact in rocky intertidal systems, to provide a broad database that may have utility for future experiments or modeling.