title: Climate-related environmental stress in intertidal grazers: scaling-up biochemical responses to assemblage-level processes.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Organisms are facing increasing levels of environmental stress under climate change that may severely affect the functioning of biological systems at different levels of organization. Growing evidence suggests that reduction in body size is a universal response of organisms to global warming. However, a clear understanding of whether extreme climate events will impose selection directly on phenotypic plastic responses and how these responses affect ecological interactions has remained elusive.
  
  
  METHODS
  We experimentally investigated the effects of extreme desiccation events on antioxidant defense mechanisms of a rocky intertidal gastropod (Patella ulyssiponensis), and evaluated how these effects scaled-up at the population and assemblage levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  With increasing levels of desiccation stress, limpets showed significant lower levels of total glutathione, tended to grow less and had reduced per capita interaction strength on their resources.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Results suggested that phenotypic plasticity (i.e., reduction in adults' body size) allowed buffering biochemical responses to stress to scale-up at the assemblage level. Unveiling the linkages among different levels of biological organization is key to develop indicators that can anticipate large-scale ecological impacts of climate change.
authors: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; CoNISMa, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Roma, Italy.
authors: Elena
authors: E
authors: Maggi
authors: Department of Biology, University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors: Mario
authors: M
authors: Cappiello
authors: Department of Biology, University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors: Antonella
authors: A
authors: Del Corso
authors: Department of Biology, University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors: Francesca
authors: F
authors: Lenzarini
authors: Department of Biology, University of Pisa , Pisa , Italy.
authors: Eleonora
authors: E
authors: Peroni
authors: Department of Biology, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy; CoNISMa, Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario per le Scienze del Mare, Roma, Italy.
authors: Lisandro
authors: L
authors: Benedetti-Cecchi
keywords: Antioxidant mechanisms; Ecological scaling; Extreme climatic events; Interaction strength; Phenotypic plasticity; Rocky intertidal gastropod