Seawater carbonate chemistry and reproduction in a marine invertebrate

• Main Authors: Pansch, Christian, Hattich, Giannina S I, Heinrichs, T, Pansch, Andreas, Zagrodzka, Zuzanna, Havenhand, Jonathan N, Anil, Arga Chandrashekar
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2018
• Subjects: Activity; Alkalinity; total; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Arthropoda; Balanus improvisus; Behaviour; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Coast and continental shelf; Condition index; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); DATE/TIME; Dry mass; Experiment; Fertilized eggs; Figure; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Gonad stage; mature; Growth/Morphology; Laboratory experiment; Laboratory strains; Month; Mortality/Survival; North Atlantic; Not applicable; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; standard deviation; Ratio; Registration number of species; Reproduction; Respiration; Respiration rate; oxygen; Salinity; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.923861; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.923861

Climate change research is advancing to more complex and more comprehensive studies that include long-term experiments, multiple life-history stages, multi-population, and multi-trait approaches. We used a population of the barnacle Balanus improvisus known to be sensitive to short-term acidification to determine its potential for long-term acclimation to acidification. We reared laboratory-bred individuals (as singles or pairs), and field-collected assemblages of barnacles, at pH 8.1 and 7.5 (400 and 1600 μatm pCO2 respectively) for up to 16 months. Acidification caused strong mortality and reduced growth rates. Acidification suppressed respiration rates and induced a higher feeding activity of barnacles after 6 months, but this suppression of respiration rate was absent after 15 months. Laboratory-bred barnacles developed mature gonads only when they were held in pairs, but nonetheless failed to produce fertilized embryos. Field-collected barnacles reared in the laboratory for 8 months at the same pH's developed mature gonads, but only those in pH 8.1 produced viable embryos and larvae. Because survivors of long-term acidification were not capable of reproducing, this demonstrates that B. improvisus can only partially acclimate to long-term acidification. This represents a clear and significant bottleneck in the ontogeny of this barnacle population that may limit its potential to persist in a future ocean.