Species of the genus Fucus, including Fucus serratus, are known as “founder species of intertidal communities” because they provide food and shelter for other algae, invertebrates, and fish. According to previous studies, this species is declining in the northern Iberian Peninsula due to ocean warming and periods of stress during low tides. The early stages of F. serratus’ life cycle are particularly important for the species’ persistence, as individuals are more susceptible to stressful environmental conditions during these periods.
Óscar Álvarez, a research technician at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (URJC), is conducting work supervised by Rosa María Viejo García and Brezo Martínez Díaz-Caneja (URJC) as part of the project “Determinant Factors of Contractions and Expansions in the Distribution of Coastal Founding Species: Improving Predictions under Climate Change Scenarios.” The project aims to identify the physical and biological factors that influence the distribution limits of native species in decline and invasive species in expansion, with the goal of improving predictions of species distributions under climate change.
On March 16, Óscar presented part of this research, conducted in collaboration with Celia Olabarría (Coastal Ecology group), in the talk titled “Effect of Combined Physical Stressors on Early Development Stages of One Contracting Target Seaweed Species, Fucus serratus.” During the lecture, Óscar presented the main ecophysiological responses of F. serratus from the Atlantic and Cantabrian regions of the Galician coast at different stages of its life cycle.
For more information about this work, you can consult the article published on the ECIMAT blog.
- Conference poster
- Videoconference:
- Presentation – Alba Hernández (ECIMAT)
- Conference – Óscar Álvarez (URJC)
- Question Time – Óscar Álvarez (URJC)
