Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion
The spread of oxygen deficiency in nearshore coastal habitats endangers benthic communities. To better understand the mechanisms leading to oxygen depletion and eventually hypoxia, predict the future development of affected ecosystems, and define suitable mitigation strategies requires detailed know...
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2023
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 https://doaj.org/article/8a58689c6ece4aa48709b3ea32bc1052 |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:8a58689c6ece4aa48709b3ea32bc1052 2024-01-07T09:42:04+01:00 Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion Nils Höche Michael L. Zettler Xizhi Huang Bernd R. Schöne 2023-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 https://doaj.org/article/8a58689c6ece4aa48709b3ea32bc1052 EN eng Frontiers Media S.A. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 https://doaj.org/article/8a58689c6ece4aa48709b3ea32bc1052 Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) ocean quahog bivalve sclerochronology disturbance lines physiological stress hypoxia Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 2023-12-10T01:41:08Z The spread of oxygen deficiency in nearshore coastal habitats endangers benthic communities. To better understand the mechanisms leading to oxygen depletion and eventually hypoxia, predict the future development of affected ecosystems, and define suitable mitigation strategies requires detailed knowledge of the dissolved oxygen (DO) history. Suitable high-resolution DO archives covering coherent time intervals of decades to centuries include bivalve shells. Here, we explored if the microstructure, specifically disturbance lines, in shells of Arctica islandica from the Baltic Sea can be used as an alternative or complementary proxy to Mn/Cashell to track the frequency and severity of past low-DO events. Disturbance lines differ from periodic annual growth lines by the presence of fine complex crossed lamellae instead of irregular simple prisms. Aside from a qualitative assessment of microstructural changes, the morphology of individual biomineral units (BMUs) was quantitatively determined by artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis to derive models for DO reconstruction. As demonstrated, Mn-rich disturbance lines can provide a proxy for past deoxygenation events (i.e., DO < 45 µmol/L), but it currently remains unresolved if low DO leads to microstructurally distinct features that differ from those caused by other environmental stressors. At least in studied specimens from the Baltic Sea and Iceland, low temperature, salinity near the lower physiological tolerance, or food scarcity did not result in disturbance lines. With decreasing DO supply, disturbance lines seem to become more prominent, contain more Mn, and consist of increasingly smaller and more elongated BMUs with a larger perimeter-to-area ratio. Although the relationship between DO and BMU size or elongation was statistically significant, the explained variability (<1.5%) was too small and the error too large to reconstruct DO values. BMU parameters may reveal a closer relationship with DO if studied in three dimensions and if the DO ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctica islandica Iceland Ocean quahog Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Frontiers in Marine Science 10 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ocean quahog bivalve sclerochronology disturbance lines physiological stress hypoxia Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
spellingShingle |
ocean quahog bivalve sclerochronology disturbance lines physiological stress hypoxia Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 Nils Höche Michael L. Zettler Xizhi Huang Bernd R. Schöne Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
topic_facet |
ocean quahog bivalve sclerochronology disturbance lines physiological stress hypoxia Baltic Sea Science Q General. Including nature conservation geographical distribution QH1-199.5 |
description |
The spread of oxygen deficiency in nearshore coastal habitats endangers benthic communities. To better understand the mechanisms leading to oxygen depletion and eventually hypoxia, predict the future development of affected ecosystems, and define suitable mitigation strategies requires detailed knowledge of the dissolved oxygen (DO) history. Suitable high-resolution DO archives covering coherent time intervals of decades to centuries include bivalve shells. Here, we explored if the microstructure, specifically disturbance lines, in shells of Arctica islandica from the Baltic Sea can be used as an alternative or complementary proxy to Mn/Cashell to track the frequency and severity of past low-DO events. Disturbance lines differ from periodic annual growth lines by the presence of fine complex crossed lamellae instead of irregular simple prisms. Aside from a qualitative assessment of microstructural changes, the morphology of individual biomineral units (BMUs) was quantitatively determined by artificial intelligence-assisted image analysis to derive models for DO reconstruction. As demonstrated, Mn-rich disturbance lines can provide a proxy for past deoxygenation events (i.e., DO < 45 µmol/L), but it currently remains unresolved if low DO leads to microstructurally distinct features that differ from those caused by other environmental stressors. At least in studied specimens from the Baltic Sea and Iceland, low temperature, salinity near the lower physiological tolerance, or food scarcity did not result in disturbance lines. With decreasing DO supply, disturbance lines seem to become more prominent, contain more Mn, and consist of increasingly smaller and more elongated BMUs with a larger perimeter-to-area ratio. Although the relationship between DO and BMU size or elongation was statistically significant, the explained variability (<1.5%) was too small and the error too large to reconstruct DO values. BMU parameters may reveal a closer relationship with DO if studied in three dimensions and if the DO ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nils Höche Michael L. Zettler Xizhi Huang Bernd R. Schöne |
author_facet |
Nils Höche Michael L. Zettler Xizhi Huang Bernd R. Schöne |
author_sort |
Nils Höche |
title |
Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
title_short |
Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
title_full |
Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
title_fullStr |
Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
title_full_unstemmed |
Shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of Arctica islandica (Bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
title_sort |
shell microstructures (disturbance lines) of arctica islandica (bivalvia): a potential proxy for severe oxygen depletion |
publisher |
Frontiers Media S.A. |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 https://doaj.org/article/8a58689c6ece4aa48709b3ea32bc1052 |
genre |
Arctica islandica Iceland Ocean quahog |
genre_facet |
Arctica islandica Iceland Ocean quahog |
op_source |
Frontiers in Marine Science, Vol 10 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716/full https://doaj.org/toc/2296-7745 2296-7745 doi:10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 https://doaj.org/article/8a58689c6ece4aa48709b3ea32bc1052 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2023.1219716 |
container_title |
Frontiers in Marine Science |
container_volume |
10 |
_version_ |
1787422908385067008 |