Abstract or Keywords
Throughout this century coastal marine organisms will be subjected to increasing environmental stress, primarily due to warming and acidification. Many of these organisms have complex life histories, including dispersal through an obligate pelagic larval phase. The impacts of environmental stressors on early life history stages of marine organisms are poorly understood; however, the importance of these life stages to demographic and metapopulation processes suggest they are potentially far-reaching. Through combined laboratory experimentation and simulation modeling, we demonstrated that end-of-century conditions have the potential to dramatically reshape Florida stone crab (Menippe mercenaria) metapopulations as larvae experienced rapid development, reduced survivorship, and stage-specific reversed vertical geotactic swimming responses under these conditions. These swimming responses drive the positioning of larvae within the water column and, therefore, influence larval exposure to depth-stratified currents that can augment or reduce their dispersal. Thus, through biophysical interactions, climate change conditions are expected to alter the connectivity of populations, the resilience of the species, and the stability of the multimillion-dollar Florida stone crab fishery. These findings suggest that marine species with complex life-histories and fragmented populations may be especially vulnerable to environmental change.