HINT - Impacts of climate change on European rocky intertidal ecosystems: coupling ecological, physiological and genetic approaches

The aim of this project is to use ecological and physiological approaches to objectively identify the origin and quantify the effects of thermal stress on intertidal organisms over a wide geographical range of more than 20 degrees of latitude.

This research focuses on the intertidal zone, a narrow band populated by species that, despite marine ancestry, are periodically exposed to stressful and variable terrestrial conditions during low tide. Because these organisms are largely sedentary and live close to their physiological limits, they are regarded as sensitive indicators of the effects of climate change on biogeography and biodiversity.

In this project, we are evaluating aspects of physiological performance (by coupling bio-mimicking sensors and molecular techniques) in ecological contexts, both in the laboratory and in the field. This project was born from collaboration between CIBIO (University of Porto, Portugal), University of South Carolina (USA) and University of Évora (Portugal).