Ocean acidification induces multi-generational decline in copepod naupliar production with possible conflict for reproductive resource allocation

• Main Authors: Fitzer, Susan C, Caldwell, Gary S, Close, Andrew J, Clare, Anthony S, Upstill-Goddard, Robert C, Bentley, Matthew G
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2012
• Subjects: Alkalinity; total; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Arthropoda; Bicarbonate ion; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (<20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Coast and continental shelf; Elements; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Generation; Group; Growth/Morphology; Identification; Laboratory experiment; Length; Nauplii; North Atlantic; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Pelagos; Percentage; pH; standard deviation; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Replicates; Reproduction; Salinity; Sample code/label; Single species; Species; Stage; Temperate; Temperature; water; Ocean acidification; Copepods
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.831728; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.831728

Climate change, including ocean acidification (OA), presents fundamental challenges to marine biodiversity and sustained ecosystem health. We determined reproductive response (measured as naupliar production), cuticle composition and stage specific growth of the copepod Tisbe battagliai over three generations at four pH conditions (pH 7.67, 7.82, 7.95, and 8.06). Naupliar production increased significantly at pH 7.95 compared with pH 8.06 followed by a decline at pH 7.82. Naupliar production at pH 7.67 was higher than pH 7.82. We attribute the increase at pH 7.95 to an initial stress response which was succeeded by a hormesis-like response at pH 7.67. A multi-generational modelling approach predicted a gradual decline in naupliar production over the next 100 years (equivalent to approximately 2430 generations). There was a significant growth reduction (mean length integrated across developmental stage) relative to controls. There was a significant increase in the proportion of carbon relative to oxygen within the cuticle as seawater pH decreased. Changes in growth, cuticle composition and naupliar production strongly suggest that copepods subjected to OA-induced stress preferentially reallocate resources towards maintaining reproductive output at the expense of somatic growth and cuticle composition. These responses may drive shifts in life history strategies that favour smaller brood sizes, females and perhaps later maturing females, with the potential to profoundly destabilise marine trophodynamics.