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Sensitivity to stress in the bivalve Macoma balthica from the most northern (Arctic) to the most southern (French) populations: low sensitivity in Arctic populations because of genetic adaptations?

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Abstract

The stress sensitivity, determined in copper exposureexperiments and in survival in air tests, and thegenetic structure, measured by means of isoenzymeelectrophoresis, were assessed in populations of theBaltic clam Macoma balthica (L.) from itssouthern to its northern distribution limit, in orderto test the hypotheses that near the distributionlimit the clams would be more stress sensitive andwould have a lower genetic variability. Thepopulations in west and north Europe show a stronggenetic resemblance. The populations in the sub-ArcticWhite Sea are genetically slightly different, and showa low stress sensitivity. The populations in theArctic Pechora Sea are genetically very distant fromthe other populations, and show the lowest stresssensitivity. Near the southern distribution limit, inagreement with the hypotheses, genetic variability islow and stress sensitivity high. On the other hand, incontrast to expectation, near the northerndistribution limit, in the populations of the PechoraSea, the genetic variability was higher, thus notreduced, and the stress sensitivity was low comparedto all other populations. Yet, it remains a questionif such is due to gradual physiologicalacclimatization (and ongoing differential selection)or to genetic adaptation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Estuarine and Coastal Ecology, Netherlands Institute of Ecology, Vierstraat 28, 4401 EA, Yerseke, The Netherlands

    Herman Hummel, Roelof Bogaards & Lein de Wolf

  2. White Sea Biological Station Poyakonda, Moscow State University, Biology faculty, Vorobjovy Gory, Moscow, 119899, Russia

    Tatiana Bek, Lennard Polishchuk, Michael Gantsevich & Kirill Sokolov

  3. Faculté de Pharmacie, Laboratoire d'Ecotoxicologie, Université de Nantes, 1, Rue Gaston-Veil, 44035, Nantes Cedex, France

    Claude Amiard-Triquet

  4. Laboratoire d'Océanographie biologique, Université de Bordeaux I, 2, Rue du Professeur Jolyet, 33120, Arcachon, France

    Guy Bachelet

  5. GEMEL Picardie, Station d'Etudes en Baie de Somme (SEBS), 115, Quai Jeanne d'Arc, 80230, Saint Valéry sur Somme, France

    Michel Desprez

  6. White sea biological station, Zoological institute, Russian academy of sciences, Universitetskaya nab. 1, 199034, St. Petersberg, Russia

    Peter Strelkov, Alex Sukhotin & Andrei Naumov

  7. Akvaplan-niva, Strandtorget 2B, 9001, Tromso, Norway

    Salve Dahle

  8. Murmansk Marine Biological Institute, Vladimirskaya str., 17, 183010, Murmansk, Russia

    Stanislav Denisenko

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  1. Herman Hummel
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Hummel, H., Bogaards, R., Bek, T. et al. Sensitivity to stress in the bivalve Macoma balthica from the most northern (Arctic) to the most southern (French) populations: low sensitivity in Arctic populations because of genetic adaptations?. Hydrobiologia 355, 127–138 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1003009524563

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