Impact of Ocean Warming and Ocean Acidification on Larval Development and Calcification in the Sea Urchin Tripneustes gratilla
Open Access
- 29 June 2010
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Public Library of Science (PLoS) in PLOS ONE
- Vol. 5 (6), e11372
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0011372
Abstract
As the oceans simultaneously warm, acidify and increase in PCO2, prospects for marine biota are of concern. Calcifying species may find it difficult to produce their skeleton because ocean acidification decreases calcium carbonate saturation and accompanying hypercapnia suppresses metabolism. However, this may be buffered by enhanced growth and metabolism due to warming. We examined the interactive effects of near-future ocean warming and increased acidification/PCO2 on larval development in the tropical sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla. Larvae were reared in multifactorial experiments in flow-through conditions in all combinations of three temperature and three pH/PCO2 treatments. Experiments were placed in the setting of projected near future conditions for SE Australia, a global change hot spot. Increased acidity/PCO2 and decreased carbonate mineral saturation significantly reduced larval growth resulting in decreased skeletal length. Increased temperature (+3°C) stimulated growth, producing significantly bigger larvae across all pH/PCO2 treatments up to a thermal threshold (+6°C). Increased acidity (-0.3-0.5 pH units) and hypercapnia significantly reduced larval calcification. A +3°C warming diminished the negative effects of acidification and hypercapnia on larval growth. This study of the effects of ocean warming and CO2 driven acidification on development and calcification of marine invertebrate larvae reared in experimental conditions from the outset of development (fertilization) shows the positive and negative effects of these stressors. In simultaneous exposure to stressors the dwarfing effects of acidification were dominant. Reduction in size of sea urchin larvae in a high PCO2 ocean would likely impair their performance with negative consequent effects for benthic adult populations.Keywords
This publication has 49 references indexed in Scilit:
- Marine calcifiers exhibit mixed responses to CO2-induced ocean acidificationGeology, 2009
- Transcriptomic response of sea urchin larvaeStrongylocentrotus purpuratusto CO2-driven seawater acidificationJournal of Experimental Biology, 2009
- The effect of ocean acidification and temperature on the fertilization and embryonic development of the Sydney rock oyster Saccostrea glomerata (Gould 1850)Global Change Biology, 2009
- Elevated water temperature and carbon dioxide concentration increase the growth of a keystone echinodermProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2009
- Temperature, but not pH, compromises sea urchin fertilization and early development under near-future climate change scenariosProceedings. Biological sciences, 2009
- Ecosystem effects of ocean acidification in times of ocean warming: a physiologist’s viewMarine Ecology Progress Series, 2008
- Ocean acidification may increase calcification rates, but at a costProceedings. Biological sciences, 2008
- The effect of the addition of algae feeding stimulants to artificial diets for the sea urchin Tripneustes gratillaAquaculture, 2007
- Temperature control of larval dispersal and the implications for marine ecology, evolution, and conservationProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2007
- Complex life cycles and offspring provisioning in marine invertebratesIntegrative and Comparative Biology, 2006