Ericson, J.A., Hellessey, N.,
Kawaguchi, S., Nicol, S.,
Nichols, P.D., Hoem, N. and
Virtue, P.
2018
Adult Antarctic krill
proves resilient in a
simulated high CO2 ocean
Communications Biology 1:
190, DOI: 10.1038/s42003-018-0195-3
NOTE:
Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba)
are an important Southern Ocean
food for numerous predators.
The research team
of Ericson et al. (2018)
investigated possible impacts
of climate change, including
so-called ocean acidification,
on krill.
SUMMARY:
Ericson et al. state that
"the measured physiological
processes in adult Antarctic krill
were robust to near-future
ocean acidification
(1000-2000 µatm pCO2)."
They noted that
"the survival rate
of krill subject to
near-future pCO2
increased by up to 11%"
and that
such pCO2 levels
"did not affect
the size of adult krill,"
nor their ability to moult,
grow, store fat or mature.
Such positive findings, are
"likely to be directly linked
to their ability to maintain
acid-base balance and
respiration rates at these
[higher] pCO2 levels."
Ericson et al. conclude
their results
"suggest that adult
Antarctic krill are resilient
to ocean acidification,
and may not be affected
by pCO2 levels predicted
for the next 100-300 years."
DETAILS:
The seven scientists conducted
a long-term laboratory experiment
in which they subjected samples
of adult krill species collected from
the Southern Ocean in 2015
to a range of seawater pCO2 levels
(control at 400 µatm, 1000 µatm,
1500 µatm, 2000 µatm and 4000 µatm,
corresponding to pH levels of
8.1, 7.8, 7.6, 7.4 and 7.1, respectively)
for a period of 46 weeks
while monitoring a suite of
physiological and biochemical
parameters.