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Visualizing hotspots: Applying thermal imaging to monitor internal temperatures in intertidal gastropods

2011; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 31; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.11646/mr.31.2.5

1448-6067

Stefan Caddy‐Retalic, Kirsten Benkendorff, Peter G. Fairweather,

Insect and Arachnid Ecology and Behavior

Investigating the impacts of climate change highlights a need to rapidly quantify an organism’s thermal environment. We investigated the reliability of non-contact thermal imaging for measuring temperatures in an intertidal gastropod. Thermal maxima from images of either dorsal or ventral surfaces correlated strongly with invasive temperature-probe readings, produc-ing highly significant regression models to predict mantle temperatures from thermal images. Thermal imaging was then field-tested to non-invasively examine temperature changes of snails relative to their substrate: those exposed to sunlight had a mean temperature 4–8°C above the substrate during the day but 2–4°C below at night. Thermoregulation was also tested in the labo-ratory: when exposed to 45°C for 24 hours, snails reached 35–44°C, significantly higher than those (18°C to 25°C) held at 25°C. Thermal imaging is reliable for rapidly measuring tissue temperatures in a shelled gastropod typical of intertidal environ-ments, thus providing a powerful tool for testing hypotheses about thermal responses in the changing global environment.