HMSC Summer Seminar Series - With friends like this, who needs anemones? Intraspecific competition of Anthopleura elegantissima in the rocky intertidal zone

HMSC Summer Seminar Series - With friends like this, who needs anemones? Intraspecific competition of Anthopleura elegantissima in the rocky intertidal zone - 8/17/2023 
Speaker: Nate Kirk, Department of Integrative Biology, Oregon State University
Summary: The intertidal sea anemone Anthopleura elegantissima forms clonal aggregations that aggressively defend themselves against conspecifics, which can result in injury to one or both combatants. Although individual aggressive interactions have been described, less is known about the long-term effects of these behaviors on the outcome. In July 2022 we started a long-term demographic study by semi-permanently marking 50 sea anemone colonies located near each other in the mid to upper intertidal zone at Seal Rock. Estimates clone population size where taken at onset and year one, and individuals were collected to determine levels of aggression, sex, gonadal status, average size, and genomic identity. This work was folded into a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience to involve undergraduate students in the design and implementation of this long-term project. These types of classes have been found to cultivate student science identity and retention in science. Along the way students have scored aggression and other aspects of intraspecific competition by pairing individuals from different colonies in laboratory-based assays. We have found evidence that some colonies are more aggressive than others and some colonies have faired better than others over the past year. Ultimately these student projects will allow us to make predictions about which clones should be more successful than others, which we will test over the next 5 years.