Publication Date:
2024-03-15
Description:
The dramatic decline of European eel (Anguilla anguilla) populations over recent decades has attracted considerable attention and concern. Furthermore, little is known about the sensitivity of the early stages of eels to projected future environmental change. Here, we investigated, for the first time, the potential combined effects of ocean warming (OW; delta + 4°C; 18°C) and acidification (OA; delta − 0.4 pH units) on the survival and migratory behaviour of A. anguilla glass eels, namely their preference towards riverine cues (freshwater and geosmin). Recently arrived individuals were exposed to isolated and combined OW and OA conditions for 100 days, adjusting for the salinity gradients associated with upstream migration. A two-choice test was used to investigate migratory activity and shifts in preference towards freshwater environments. While OW decreased survival and increased migratory activity, OA appears to hinder migratory response, reducing the preference for riverine cues. Our results suggest that future conditions could potentially favour an early settlement of glass eels, reducing the proportion of fully migratory individuals. Further research into the effects of climate change on eel migration and habitat selection is needed to implement efficient conservation plans for this critically endangered species.
Keywords:
Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard deviation; Anguilla anguilla; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard deviation; Behaviour; Bicarbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion, standard deviation; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (〈20 L); Brackish waters; Calcite saturation state; Calcite saturation state, standard deviation; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Calculated using seacarb after Orr et al. (2018); Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved, standard deviation; Carbonate ion; Carbonate ion, standard deviation; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Carbon dioxide, standard deviation; Chordata; EXP; Experiment; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Fugacity of carbon dioxide in seawater, standard deviation; Individuals; Laboratory experiment; Minho_Estuary; Mortality/Survival; Nekton; North Atlantic; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide, standard deviation; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Pelagos; pH; pH, standard deviation; Registration number of species; Replicate; Salinity; Salinity, standard deviation; Side; Single species; Species; Survival; Temperate; Temperature; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard deviation; Time in weeks; Treatment; Type; Uniform resource locator/link to reference
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 13568 data points
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