Ocean Acidification Changes The Male Fitness Landscape
Sperm competition is extremely common in many ecologically important marine taxa. Ocean acidification (OA) is driving rapid changes to the marine environments in which freely spawned sperm operate, yet the consequences of OA on sperm performance are poorly understood in the context of sperm competit...
| Published in: | Scientific Reports |
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| Other Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | Text |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31250 http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_libsubv1_wos_000381496800001 http://fsu.digital.flvc.org/islandora/object/fsu%3A390606/datastream/TN/view/Ocean%20acidification%20changes%20the%20male%20fitness%20landscape.jpg |
| Summary: | Sperm competition is extremely common in many ecologically important marine taxa. Ocean acidification (OA) is driving rapid changes to the marine environments in which freely spawned sperm operate, yet the consequences of OA on sperm performance are poorly understood in the context of sperm competition. Here, we investigated the impacts of OA (+ 1000 mu atm pCO(2)) on sperm competitiveness for the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Males with faster sperm had greater competitive fertilisation success in both seawater conditions. Similarly, males with more motile sperm had greater sperm competitiveness, but only under current pCO(2) levels. Under OA the strength of this association was significantly reduced and there were male sperm performance rank changes under OA, such that the best males in current conditions are not necessarily best under OA. Therefore OA will likely change the male fitness landscape, providing a mechanism by which environmental change alters the genetic landscape of marine species. arenicola-marina, egg size, fertilization success, gamete age, motility, near-future levels, ph, sea-urchin, spawning marine invertebrate, sperm competition The publisher’s version of record is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/srep31250 |
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