Patterns of Mass Mortality among Rocky Shore Invertebrates across 100 km of Northeastern Pacific Coastline

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0126280
• Publication Date: 2015-06-03T18:24:21Z
• Authors: Laura J. Jurgens; Laura Rogers-Bennett; Peter T. Raimondi; Lauren M. Schiebe...; Michael N. Dawson; Richard K. Grosberg; Brian Gaylord
• Keywords: Rocky shore; Strongylocentrotus purpuratus; Marine ecosystem

Mass mortalities in natural populations, particularly those that leave few survivors over large spatial areas, may cause long-term ecological perturbations. Yet mass remain undocumented or poorly described due to challenges responding rapidly unforeseen events, scarcity of baseline data, and difficulties quantifying rare patchily distributed species, especially remote marine systems. Better chronicling the geographic pattern intensity is critical face global changes predicted alter regional disturbance regimes. Here, we couple replicated post-mortality surveys with preceding historical data describe a rapid severe mortality rocky shore invertebrates along north-central California coast northeastern Pacific Ocean. In late August 2011, formerly abundant intertidal populations purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, well-known ecosystem engineer), predatory six-armed star (Leptasterias sp.) were functionally extirpated from ~100 km coastline. Other invertebrates, including gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) ochre (Pisaster ochraceus), subtidal urchins also exhibited elevated mortality. The extent suggest potential for population, community, consequences, recovery which depend on different dispersal abilities affected species.