ArticlePloS one2015
Patterns of Mass Mortality among Rocky Shore Invertebrates across 100 km of Northeastern Pacific Coastline.
Article in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 17 papers.
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Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 65 citations in OpenAlex.
- A parasite-inclusive food web for the California rocky intertidal zone.Scientific data · 2026Article
- Unravelling echinoid mass mortalities: a global overview of mechanisms, spatio-temporal trends, and taxonomic insights.Biological reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society · 2026Review
- Evaluating historical changes in a mussel bed community in northern California.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Minor Genetic Consequences of a Major Mass Mortality: Short-Term Effects inThe Biological bulletin · 2022Article
- A chromosome-level reference genome for the giant pink sea star, Pisaster brevispinus, a species severely impacted by wasting.The Journal of heredity · 2022Article
- Species' attributes predict the relative magnitude of ecological and genetic recovery following mass mortality.Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- A Review of Asteroid Biology in the Context of Sea Star Wasting: Possible Causes and Consequences.The Biological bulletin · 2022Review
- Temporal and spatial variation in population structure among brooding sea stars in the genusEcology and evolution · 2021Article
- A comprehensive assessment of the intertidal biodiversity along the Portuguese coast in the early 2000s.Biodiversity data journal · 2021Article
- Uncommon southwest swells trigger sea urchin disease outbreaks in Eastern Atlantic archipelagos.Ecology and evolution · 2020Article
- Shifts in seawater chemistry disrupt trophic links within a simple shoreline food web.Oecologia · 2019Article
- Sea star wasting disease demography and etiology in the brooding sea star Leptasterias spp.PloS one · 2019Article
- Decimation by sea star wasting disease and rapid genetic change in a keystone species,Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2018Article
- Bioerosion by pit-forming, temperate-reef sea urchins: History, rates and broader implications.PloS one · 2018Article
- Enemies with benefits: parasitic endoliths protect mussels against heat stress.Scientific reports · 2016Article
- Article
- Correction: Patterns of Mass Mortality among Rocky Shore Invertebrates across 100 km of Northeastern Pacific Coastline.PloS one · 2015Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Mass mortalities in natural populations, particularly those that leave few survivors over large spatial areas, may cause long-term ecological perturbations. Yet mass mortalities may remain undocumented or poorly described due to challenges in responding rapidly to unforeseen events, scarcity of baseline data, and difficulties in quantifying rare or patchily distributed species, especially in remote or marine systems. Better chronicling the geographic pattern and intensity of mass mortalities is especially critical in the face of global changes predicted to alter regional disturbance regimes. Here, we couple replicated post-mortality surveys with preceding long-term surveys and historical data to describe a rapid and severe mass mortality of rocky shore invertebrates along the north-central California coast of the northeastern Pacific Ocean. In late August 2011, formerly abundant intertidal populations of the purple sea urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus, a well-known ecosystem engineer), and the predatory six-armed sea star (Leptasterias sp.) were functionally extirpated from ~100 km of coastline. Other invertebrates, including the gumboot chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) the ochre sea star (Pisaster ochraceus), and subtidal populations of purple sea urchins also exhibited elevated mortality. The pattern and extent of mortality suggest the potential for long-term population, community, and ecosystem consequences, recovery from which may depend on the different dispersal abilities of the affected species.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.