PERCEBES: Reproductive and connectivity dynamics of barnacles in Iberia

The stalked barnacle is one of the most important small-scale resources in the rocky shores of Spain and Portugal. However, many biological processes remain unknown – as well as the linkages of these processes with environmental variables. Under the umbrella of the PERCEBES project, the researchers Salvador Román (Universidade de Vigo) and Marina Parrondo (Universidad de Oviedo,  currently at the Universidade de Vigo) have led two publications that provide important insights on 1) the linkages between the reproductive output of barnacles and environmental variables and 2) the species genetic structure in Iberia (Spain and Portugal).

The study of S. Román et al.  was conducted in Galicia (NW Spain), where the breeding activity of barnacles was found to increase with decreasing latitude. This research also assessed the spatial variability at the mesoscale level in barnacles reproductive output in relation to the spatiotemporal variability in sea surface temperature (SST) influenced by the upwelling process.

Throughout the use of new molecular markers, the study of M. Parrondo et al. explored the dynamics of local populations of the stalked barnacle over the Iberian coast to better understand how they are interconnected. This study revealed a high genetic diversity of the species in Iberia – higher than the one previously reported for other barnacle species of the same genus.

You can read more about the papers in the links!

From FOL, we congratulate S. Román and M. Parrondo for their publications as well as their co-authors – who among them is FOL member Alba Aguión.