Will krill fare well under Southern Ocean acidification?

• Published in: Biology Letters
• Main Authors: Kawaguchi, S, Kurihara, H, King, R, Hale, L, Berli, TM, Robinson, JP, Ishida, A, Wakita, M, Virtue, P, Nicol, S, Ishimatsu, A
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: The Royal Society 2011
• Subjects: Biological Sciences; Other Biological Sciences; Global Change Biology; Antarctic; Southern Ocean; Antarc*; Antarctic Krill; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://rsbl.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/7/2/288; https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2010.0777; http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20943680; http://ecite.utas.edu.au/68395

Antarctic krill embryos and larvae were experimentallyexposed to 380 (control), 1000 and2000 matm pCO2 in order to assess the possibleimpact of ocean acidification on early developmentof krill. No significant effects weredetected on embryonic development or larvalbehaviour at 1000 matm pCO2; however, at2000 matm pCO2 development was disruptedbefore gastrulation in 90 per cent of embryos,and no larvae hatched successfully. Our modelprojections demonstrated that Southern Oceansea water pCO2 could rise up to 1400 matm inkrills depth range under the IPCC IS92a scenarioby the year 2100 (atmospheric pCO2788 matm). These results point out the urgentneed for understanding the pCO2-responserelationship for krill developmental and laterstages, in order to predict the possible fate ofthis key species in the Southern Ocean.