Sensitivity to ocean acidification parallels natural pCO2 gradients experienced by Arctic copepods under winter sea ice

The Arctic Ocean is a bellwether for ocean acidification, yet few direct Arctic studies have been carried out and limited observations exist, especially in winter. We present unique under-ice physicochemical data showing the persistence of a mid water column area of high CO2 and low pH through late...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Main Authors: Lewis, Ceri N., Brown, Kristina A., Edwards, Laura A., Cooper, Glenn, Findlay, Helen S.
Format: Text
Language:English
Published: National Academy of Sciences 2013
Subjects:
PNAS Plus
Arctic
Arctic Ocean
Ocean acidification
Sea ice
Zooplankton
Copepods
Online Access:http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3870746
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24297880
https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1315162110
Description
Summary:The Arctic Ocean is a bellwether for ocean acidification, yet few direct Arctic studies have been carried out and limited observations exist, especially in winter. We present unique under-ice physicochemical data showing the persistence of a mid water column area of high CO2 and low pH through late winter, Zooplankton data demonstrating that the dominant copepod species are distributed across these different physicochemical conditions, and empirical data demonstrating that these copepods show sensitivity to pCO2 that parallels the range of natural pCO2 they experience through their daily vertical migration behavior. Our data, collected as part of the Catlin Arctic Survey, provide unique insight into the link between environmental variability, behavior, and an organism’s physiological tolerance to CO2 in key Arctic biota.

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