Publication Date:
2024-03-15
Description:
Antarctic surface waters are expected to be the first to experience severe ocean acidification (OA) with carbonate undersaturation and large decreases in pH forecasted before the end of this century. Due to the long stability in environmental conditions and the relatively low daily and seasonal variations to which they are exposed, Antarctic marine organisms, especially those with a supposedly poor machinery to eliminate CO2 and protons and with a heavily calcified skeleton like echinoderms, are hypothesized as highly vulnerable to these environmental shifts. The opportunities offered by the natural pH gradient generated by vent activities in Deception Island caldera, Western Antarctic Peninsula, were used to investigate for the first time the acid-base physiologies, the impact of OA on the skeleton and the impact of pH on metal accumulation in the Antarctic sea star Odontaster validus and sea urchin Sterechinus neumayeri. The two species were sampled in four stations within the caldera, two at pH (total scale) 8.0- 8.1 and two at reduced pH 7.8. Measured variables were pH, alkalinity, and dissolved inorganic carbon of the coelomic fluid; characteristic fracture force, stress and Young's modulus using Weibull statistics and Cd, Cu, Fe, Pb and Zn concentrations in the integument, gonads and digestive system. Recorded acid-base characteristics of both studied species fit in the general picture deduced from temperate and tropical sea stars and sea urchins but conditions and possibly confounding factors, principally food availability and quality, in the studied stations prevented definitive conclusions. Reduced seawater pH 7.8 and metals had almost no impact on the skeleton mechanical properties of the two investigated species despite very high Cd concentrations in O. validus integument. Reduced pH was correlated to increased contamination by most metals but this relation was weak. Translocation and caging experiments taking into account food parameters are proposed to better understand future processes linked to ocean acidification and metal contamination in Antarctic echinoderms.
Keywords:
Acid-base regulation; Alkalinity, total; Alkalinity, total, standard deviation; Animalia; Antarctic; Aragonite saturation state; Aragonite saturation state, standard deviation; Arm length; Arm length, standard deviation; Benthic animals; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion, standard deviation; Cadmium; Cadmium, standard deviation; Calcite saturation state; Calcite saturation state, standard deviation; Calculated using CO2SYS; 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; Characteristic stress; CO2 vent; Coast and continental shelf; Coelomic fluid, alkalinity; Coelomic fluid, aragonite saturation state; Coelomic fluid, bicarbonate ion; Coelomic fluid, calcite saturation state; Coelomic fluid, carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Coelomic fluid, carbonate ion; Coelomic fluid, partial pressure of carbon dioxide; Coelomic fluid, pH; Confidence interval; Copper; Copper, standard deviation; Echinodermata; Field observation; Force; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Fugacity of carbon dioxide in seawater, standard deviation; Growth/Morphology; Height; Height, standard deviation; Iron; Iron, standard deviation; Lead; Lead, standard deviation; Length; Length, standard deviation; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Odontaster validus; Other metabolic rates; Other studied parameter or process; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide, standard deviation; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); pH; pH, standard deviation; Polar; Potentiometric; Potentiometric titration; Registration number of species; Salinity; Salinity, standard deviation; Second moment of area; Second moment of area, standard deviation; Single species; Site; Species; Sterechinus neumayeri; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard deviation; Type; Uniform resource locator/link to reference; Weibull modulus; Young's modulus; Zinc; Zinc, standard deviation
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 872 data points
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