Description and quantification of pteropod shell dissolution: a sensitive bioindicator of ocean acidification |
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Authors: | Nina Bednaršek Geraint A Tarling Dorothee CE Bakker Sophie Fielding Anne Cohen Alan Kuzirian Dan McCorkle Bertrand Lézé Roberto Montagna |
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Affiliation: | 1. British Antarctic Survey, , Cambridge, CB3 0ET UK;2. School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia Research Park, , Norwich, NR4 7TJ UK;3. University of Nova Gorica, Laboratory for Environmental Research, , Nova Gorica, 5000 Slovenia;4. Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Department of Geology and Geophysics, , Woods Hole, MA, 02543 USA;5. Marine Biological Laboratory, , Woods Hole, MA, 02543 USA |
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Abstract: | Anthropogenic ocean acidification is likely to have negative effects on marine calcifying organisms, such as shelled pteropods, by promoting dissolution of aragonite shells. Study of shell dissolution requires an accurate and sensitive method for assessing shell damage. Shell dissolution was induced through incubations in CO2‐enriched seawater for 4 and 14 days. We describe a procedure that allows the level of dissolution to be assessed and classified into three main types: Type I with partial dissolution of the prismatic layer; Type II with exposure of underlying crossed‐lamellar layer, and Type III, where crossed‐lamellar layer shows signs of dissolution. Levels of dissolution showed a good correspondence to the incubation conditions, with the most severe damage found in specimens held for 14 days in undersaturated condition (Ω ~ 0.8). This methodology enables the response of small pelagic calcifiers to acidified conditions to be detected at an early stage, thus making pteropods a valuable bioindicator of future ocean acidification. |
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Keywords: | aragonite shell bioindicator dissolution quantification ocean acidification pteropods shell dissolution |
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