Biochemical, metabolic and morphological responses of the intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea to ocean acidification and increase temperature ...

• Main Author: Melatunan, Sedercor
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: University of Plymouth 2012
• Subjects: Ocean Acidification; Climate Change; Biochemical, metabolic and morphological; Ecophysiology; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.24382/3119; https://pearl.plymouth.ac.uk/handle/10026.1/1009

Chapter 2 of the thesis has been published ... : Future changes to the pH and temperature of the oceans are predicted to impact the biodiversity of marine ecosystems, particularly those animals that rely on the process of calcification. The marine intertidal gastropod Littorina littorea can be used as a model of intertidal organism for investigating the effects of ocean acidification and high temperature, alone and in combination because its ability to be quickly adapt against environmental stressor. In the first study a single species population of L. littorea was used to test for physiological and biochemical effects underpinning organismal responses to climate change and ocean acidification. Compared with control conditions, snails decreased metabolic rates by 31% in response to elevated pCO2 while by 15% in response to combined pCO2 and temperature. Decreased metabolic rates were associated with metabolic depression, a strategy to match oxygen demand and availability, and an increase in end-product metabolites in the tissue under acidified treatments, ...