Impacts of ocean acidification and warming on shell ontogeny, biomineralization and microstructure in juvenile Nucella lapillus (L.)

• Main Author: Rühl, Saskia
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 2014
• Subjects: Ocean acidification & warming; Nucella; ontogeny; biomineralization; microstructure; micro-CT; 3DGM; Ocean acidification; Nucella lapillus
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10026.2/2562

Complex climate changes have previously been shown to have large impacts on the behaviour, physiology and general health of marine wildlife. This study tests whether it affects the shell bio-mineralisation, microstructure and ontogeny of Nucella lapillus, a predatory keystone mollusc found on temperate rocky shores. From a laboratory-based set of conditions representing climate change, in the form of ocean acidification and warming based on predictions made by the IPCC, juvenile Nucella were extracted at different ages and preserved for analysis. An array of techniques, including micro-CT scanning, 3D geometric morphometrics and scanning electron microscopy, was used to analyse the shells from different treatment and age groups. Acidification and age were found to affect shell density, length, width, thickness and the amount of shell surface damages. Microstructures varied most between different pH groups while temperature was a deciding factor in Mg:Ca ratio variation. Overall, Nucella from acidified treatments had weaker shells and were therefore predicted to be more vulnerable to predation and environmental pressures such as wave action. These findings were combined with those from previous studies suggest that this will have negative effects on Nucella populations and their surrounding rocky shore communities, locally and globally. In collaboration with Plymouth Marine Laboratory, Plymouth, UK and Hellenic Centre for Marine Research, Crete, Greece