Energetic plasticity underlies a variable response to ocean acidification in the pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica
Seibel, B.A.; Maas, A.E.; Dierssen, H.M. (2012). Energetic plasticity underlies a variable response to ocean acidification in the pteropod, Limacina helicina antarctica. PLoS One 7(4): e30464. https://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0030464 In: PLoS One. Public Library of Science: San Francisco. ISSN 1932-6203; e-ISSN 1932-6203, more |   |
| Authors | | Top | - Seibel, B.A.
- Maas, A.E.
- Dierssen, H.M., more
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| Abstract | Ocean acidification, caused by elevated seawater carbon dioxide levels, may have a deleterious impact on energetic processes in animals. Here we show that high PCO2 can suppress metabolism, measured as oxygen consumption, in the pteropod, L. helicina forma antarctica, by ∼20%. The rates measured at 180–380 µatm (MO2 = 1.25 M−0.25, p = 0.007) were significantly higher (ANCOVA, p = 0.004) than those measured at elevated target CO2 levels in 2007 (789–1000 µatm, = 0.78 M−0.32, p = 0.0008; Fig. 1). However, we further demonstrate metabolic plasticity in response to regional phytoplankton concentration and that the response to CO2 is dependent on the baseline level of metabolism. We hypothesize that reduced regional Chl a levels in 2008 suppressed metabolism and masked the effect of ocean acidification. This effect of food limitation was not, we postulate, merely a result of gut clearance and specific dynamic action, but rather represents a sustained metabolic response to regional conditions. Thus, pteropod populations may be compromised by climate change, both directly via CO2-induced metabolic suppression, and indirectly via quantitative and qualitative changes to the phytoplankton community. Without the context provided by long-term observations (four seasons) and a multi-faceted laboratory analysis of the parameters affecting energetics, the complex response of polar pteropods to ocean acidification may be masked or misinterpreted. |
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