The effect of elevated CO2 and increased temperature on in vitro fertilization success and initial embryonic development of single male:female crosses of broad-cast spawning corals at mid- and high-latitude locations

• Main Authors: Schutter, Miriam, Nozawa, Yoko, Kurihara, Haruko
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2015
• Subjects: Abnormality; Acropora hyacinthus; Alkalinity; total; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Benthic animals; Benthos; 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; Cnidaria; Coast and continental shelf; Development; Early developmental success (embryos/(eggs+embryos)); Event label; EXP; Experiment; Favites abdita; Fertilization success rate; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Kochi_Japan; Laboratory experiment; Lyudao_Taiwan; North Pacific; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide; standard deviation; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; Platygyra contorta; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Reproduction; Salinity; Single species; Species; Temperate; Temperature; Pacific; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.849254; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.849254

The impact of global climate change on coral reefs is expected to be most profound at the sea surface, where fertilization and embryonic development of broadcast-spawning corals takes place. We examined the effect of increased temperature and elevated CO2 levels on the in vitro fertilization success and initial embryonic development of broadcast-spawning corals using a single male:female cross of three different species from mid- and high-latitude locations: Lyudao, Taiwan (22° N) and Kochi, Japan (32° N). Eggs were fertilized under ambient conditions (27 °C and 500 µatm CO2) and under conditions predicted for 2100 (IPCC worst case scenario, 31 °C and 1000 µatm CO2). Fertilization success, abnormal development and early developmental success were determined for each sample. Increased temperature had a more profound influence than elevated CO2. In most cases, near-future warming caused a significant drop in early developmental success as a result of decreased fertilization success and/or increased abnormal development. The embryonic development of the male:female cross of A. hyacinthus from the high-latitude location was more sensitive to the increased temperature (+4 °C) than the male:female cross of A. hyacinthus from the mid-latitude location. The response to the elevated CO2 level was small and highly variable, ranging from positive to negative responses. These results suggest that global warming is a more significant and universal stressor than ocean acidification on the early embryonic development of corals from mid- and high-latitude locations.