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Link to original content: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18460426
Ocean acidification may increase calcification rates, but at a cost - PubMed Skip to main page content
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. 2008 Aug 7;275(1644):1767-73.
doi: 10.1098/rspb.2008.0343.

Ocean acidification may increase calcification rates, but at a cost

Hannah L Wood  1 , John I Spicer, Stephen Widdicombe
Affiliations

Ocean acidification may increase calcification rates, but at a cost

Hannah L Wood et al. Proc Biol Sci. .

Abstract

Ocean acidification is the lowering of pH in the oceans as a result of increasing uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is entering the oceans at a greater rate than ever before, reducing the ocean's natural buffering capacity and lowering pH. Previous work on the biological consequences of ocean acidification has suggested that calcification and metabolic processes are compromised in acidified seawater. By contrast, here we show, using the ophiuroid brittlestar Amphiura filiformis as a model calcifying organism, that some organisms can increase the rates of many of their biological processes (in this case, metabolism and the ability to calcify to compensate for increased seawater acidity). However, this upregulation of metabolism and calcification, potentially ameliorating some of the effects of increased acidity comes at a substantial cost (muscle wastage) and is therefore unlikely to be sustainable in the long term.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Impact of seawater pH on (a) oxygen uptake (μmol per day per gram animal), (b) length of arm regeneration (mm), (c) calcium content of established and regenerated arms (%; hatched bars, established; dotted bars, regenerated) and (d) egg feret diameter (μm) following a 40-day exposure. All values are means ±95% CI.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Calcium content (%) of arms which had been exposed to lowered pH after being removed from animal. All values are means ±95% CI.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Longitudinal cross sections of (a) established and (b) regenerated arms (×10 mag) mounted in methacrylate resin and stained with Lee's basic blue fuchin. ((i) pH 8, (ii) pH 7.7, (iii) pH 7.3 and (iv) pH 6.8).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Water conditions during experiment on (a) pH(NIST) (diamonds, 8.0; squares, pH 7.7; filled triangles, pH 7.3; and open triangles, pH 6.8) and (b) TCO2 (mmol l−1). All values are means ±95% CI.
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