Search results for "Ocean Acidification"
showing 10 items of 135 documents
Slight differences in community structure and biodiversity of fish associated to a Cymodocea nodosa meadow in a shallow CO2 vent
2018
Naturally acidified environments are used to test ecological hypotheses about the effects of ocean acidification on complex communities. Here, we used a shallow Mediterranean CO2 vent to study the coastal fish assemblages associated to Cymodocea nodosa seagrass meadows, long-term exposed to high pCO2 / low pH conditions. In particular, by using underwater visual census method, we assessed the structure and the biodiversity of fish assemblages living in a low pH site and in two control sites, in two periods of the year featured by dissimilar seagrass structure. The aim of this study was to test the effect of different pH on fish assemblages mediated by the habitat-forming structural species …
Growth rates of F0 and F1 larval and juvenile European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax in resonse to ocean acidification and warming
2022
Ongoing climate change is leading to warmer and more acidic oceans. The future distribution of fish within the oceans depends on their capacity to adapt to these new environments. Only few studies have examined the effects of ocean acidification (OA) and warming (OW) on the metabolism of long-lived fish over successive generations. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of OA on larval and juvenile growth and metabolism on two successive generations of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) as well as the effect of OAW on larval and juvenile growth and metabolism of the second generation. European sea bass is a large economically important fish species with a long generation time…
Ocean Acidification studies in the Baia di Levante (Vulcano island, Italy). Advantages and disadvantages of the “in situ” approach.
2014
Years of scientific research have shown that acidification of oceans (OA) is an undisputed fact. Why is it so important to increase knowledge about OA? Because many animals and plants in the ocean have calcium carbonate skeletons or shells, and a decreasing in pH can affect their population health state and the marine-ecosystem structure. Another point of view about OA which must to be considered is that it may alter the behavior of sediment-bound metals, modifying their bioavailability and thus toxicity. The toxic free-ion concentration of metals such as copper may increase by as much as 115% in coastal waters in the next 100 years due to reduced pH. Since increasing atmospheric CO2 over t…
Ocean acidification and elevated temperature negatively affect recruitment, oxygen consumption and calcification of the reef-building Dendropoma cris…
2019
Expected temperature rise and seawater pH decrease may affect marine organism fitness. By a transplant experiment involving air-temperature manipulation along a natural CO2 gradient, we investigated the effects of high pCO(2) (similar to 1100 mu atm) and elevated temperature (up to +2 degrees C than ambient conditions) on the reproductive success, recruitment, growth, shell chemical composition and oxygen consumption of the early life stages of the intertidal reef-building vermetid Dendropoma cristatum. Reproductive success was predominantly affected by temperature increase, with encapsulated embryos exhibiting higher survival in control than elevated temperature conditions, which were in t…
Oxygen consumption of F0 and F1 larval and juvenile European seabass Dicentrarchus labrax in resonse to ocean acidification and warming
2022
Ongoing climate change is leading to warmer and more acidic oceans. The future distribution of fish within the oceans depends on their capacity to adapt to these new environments. Only few studies have examined the effects of ocean acidification (OA) and warming (OW) on the metabolism of long-lived fish over successive generations. We therefore aimed to investigate the effect of OA on larval and juvenile growth and metabolism on two successive generations of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax L.) as well as the effect of OAW on larval and juvenile growth and metabolism of the second generation. European sea bass is a large economically important fish species with a long generation time…
Ocean acidification affects fish spawning but not paternity at CO2 seeps
2016
Fish exhibit impaired sensory function and altered behaviour at levels of ocean acidification expected to occur owing to anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions during this century. We provide the first evidence of the effects of ocean acidification on reproductive behaviour of fish in the wild. Satellite and sneaker male ocellated wrasse ( Symphodus ocellatus ) compete to fertilize eggs guarded by dominant nesting males. Key mating behaviours such as dominant male courtship and nest defence did not differ between sites with ambient versus elevated CO 2 concentrations. Dominant males did, however, experience significantly lower rates of pair spawning at elevated CO 2 levels. Despite the hig…
Temperature modulates the response of the thermophilous sea urchin Arbacia lixula early life stages to CO2-driven acidification
2014
The increasing abundances of the thermophilous black sea urchin Arbacia lixula in the Mediterranean Sea are attributed to the Western Mediterranean warming. However, few data are available on the potential impact of this warming on A. lixula in combination with other global stressors such as ocean acidification. The aim of this study is to investigate the interactive effects of increased temperature and of decreased pH on fertilization and early development of A. lixula. This was tested using a fully crossed design with four temperatures (20, 24, 26 and 27 °C) and two pH levels (pHNBS 8.2 and 7.9). Temperature and pH had no significant effect on fertilization and larval survival (2d) for te…
Seawater carbonate chemistry and nest guarding behaviour of a temperate wrasse
2021
Organisms may respond to changing environmental conditions by adjusting their behaviour (i.e., behavioural plasticity). Ocean acidification (OA), resulting from anthropogenic emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), is predicted to impair sensory function and behaviour of fish. However, reproductive behaviours, and parental care in particular, and their role in mediating responses to OA are presently overlooked. Here, we assessed whether the nesting male ocellated wrasse Symphodus ocellatus from sites with different CO2 concentrations showed different behaviours during their breeding season. We also investigated potential re-allocation of the time-budget towards different behavioural activities b…
Seawater carbonate chemistry and shell mineralogy, microstructure, and mechanical strength of four Mediterranean gastropod species near a CO2 seep
2017
Marine CO2 seeps allow the study of the long-term effects of elevated pCO2 (ocean acidification) on marine invertebrate biomineralization. We investigated the effects of ocean acidification on shell composition and structure in four ecologically important species of Mediterranean gastropods (two limpets, a top-shell snail, and a whelk). Individuals were sampled from three sites near a volcanic CO2 seep off Vulcano Island, Italy. The three sites represented ambient (8.15 pH), moderate (8.03 pH) and low (7.73 pH) seawater mean pH. Shell mineralogy, microstructure, and mechanical strength were examined in all four species. We found that the calcite/aragonite ratio could vary and increased sign…
Physiological advantages of dwarfing in surviving extinctions in high-CO2 oceans
2015
Excessive CO2 in the present-day ocean-atmosphere system is causing ocean acidification, and is likely to cause a severe biodiversity decline in the future, mirroring effects in many past mass extinctions. Fossil records demonstrate that organisms surviving such events were often smaller than those before, a phenomenon called the Lilliput effect. Here, we show that two gastropod species adapted to acidified seawater at shallow-water CO2 seeps were smaller than those found in normal pH conditions and had higher mass-specific energy consumption but significantly lower whole-animal metabolic energy demand. These physiological changes allowed the animals to maintain calcification and to partial…