Severe tissue damage in Atlantic cod larvae under increasing ocean acidification

Andrea Y. Frommel; Rommel Maneja; David Lowe; Arne M. Malzahn; Audrey J. Geffen; Arild Folkvord; Uwe Piatkowski; Thorsten B.H. Reusch; Catriona Clemmesen

doi:10.1038/nclimate1324

Severe tissue damage in Atlantic cod larvae under increasing ocean acidification

Andrea Y. Frommel^*
, Rommel Maneja
, David Lowe
, Arne M. Malzahn
, Audrey J. Geffen
, Arild Folkvord
, Uwe Piatkowski
, Thorsten B.H. Reusch
, Catriona Clemmesen

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

251 Scopus citations

Abstract

Ocean acidification, caused by increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO ₂ (refs.1-3), is one of the most critical anthropogenicthreats to marine life. Changes in seawater carbonate chemistry have the potential to disturb calcification, acid-base regulation, blood circulation and respiration, as well as the nervous system of marine organisms, leading to long-term effects such as reduced growth rates and reproduction. In teleost fishes, early life-history stages are particularly vulnerable as they lack specialized internal pH regulatory mechanisms. So far, impacts of relevant CO ₂ concentrations on larval fish have been found in behaviour and otolith size, mainly in tropical, non-commercial species. Here we show detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the development of a mass-spawning fish species of high commercial importance. We reared Atlantic cod larvae at three levels of CO 2, (1) present day, (2) end of next century and (3) an extreme, coastal upwelling scenario, in a long-term (months) mesocosm experiment. Exposure to CO ₂ resulted in severe to lethal tissue damage in many internal organs, with the degree of damage increasing with CO ₂ concentration. As larval survival is the bottleneck to recruitment, ocean acidification has the potential to act as an additional source of natural mortality, affecting populations of already exploited fish stocks.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	42-46
Number of pages	5
Journal	Nature Climate Change
Volume	2
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1324
State	Published - Jan 2012
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding was provided through the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) ‘European Project on Ocean Acidification’ (EPOCA, grant agreement N211384), the European Marie Curie Initial Training Network ‘Calcification of Marine Organisms’ (CalMarO) and the project by German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) ‘Biological Impacts of Ocean ACIDification’ (BIOACID). The experiments were conducted at the Norwegian National Mesocosm Centre, Espegrend, in cooperation with the University of Bergen. The authors are grateful to R. Bellerby and his lab for assistance with the carbonate chemistry and to H. Otteraa, V. Lokøy, F. Midtøy and C. Eizaguirre for various support.

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 14 Life Below Water

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

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10.1038/nclimate1324

Cite this

@article{15b101083a844a5e962494fe3181fe29,

title = "Severe tissue damage in Atlantic cod larvae under increasing ocean acidification",

abstract = "Ocean acidification, caused by increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 (refs.1-3), is one of the most critical anthropogenicthreats to marine life. Changes in seawater carbonate chemistry have the potential to disturb calcification, acid-base regulation, blood circulation and respiration, as well as the nervous system of marine organisms, leading to long-term effects such as reduced growth rates and reproduction. In teleost fishes, early life-history stages are particularly vulnerable as they lack specialized internal pH regulatory mechanisms. So far, impacts of relevant CO 2 concentrations on larval fish have been found in behaviour and otolith size, mainly in tropical, non-commercial species. Here we show detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the development of a mass-spawning fish species of high commercial importance. We reared Atlantic cod larvae at three levels of CO 2, (1) present day, (2) end of next century and (3) an extreme, coastal upwelling scenario, in a long-term (months) mesocosm experiment. Exposure to CO 2 resulted in severe to lethal tissue damage in many internal organs, with the degree of damage increasing with CO 2 concentration. As larval survival is the bottleneck to recruitment, ocean acidification has the potential to act as an additional source of natural mortality, affecting populations of already exploited fish stocks.",

author = "Frommel, \{Andrea Y.\} and Rommel Maneja and David Lowe and Malzahn, \{Arne M.\} and Geffen, \{Audrey J.\} and Arild Folkvord and Uwe Piatkowski and Reusch, \{Thorsten B.H.\} and Catriona Clemmesen",

note = "Funding Information: Funding was provided through the European Community{\textquoteright}s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) {\textquoteleft}European Project on Ocean Acidification{\textquoteright} (EPOCA, grant agreement N211384), the European Marie Curie Initial Training Network {\textquoteleft}Calcification of Marine Organisms{\textquoteright} (CalMarO) and the project by German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) {\textquoteleft}Biological Impacts of Ocean ACIDification{\textquoteright} (BIOACID). The experiments were conducted at the Norwegian National Mesocosm Centre, Espegrend, in cooperation with the University of Bergen. The authors are grateful to R. Bellerby and his lab for assistance with the carbonate chemistry and to H. Otteraa, V. Lok{\o}y, F. Midt{\o}y and C. Eizaguirre for various support.",

year = "2012",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1038/nclimate1324",

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AU - Frommel, Andrea Y.

AU - Maneja, Rommel

AU - Lowe, David

AU - Malzahn, Arne M.

AU - Geffen, Audrey J.

AU - Folkvord, Arild

AU - Piatkowski, Uwe

AU - Reusch, Thorsten B.H.

AU - Clemmesen, Catriona

N1 - Funding Information: Funding was provided through the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) ‘European Project on Ocean Acidification’ (EPOCA, grant agreement N211384), the European Marie Curie Initial Training Network ‘Calcification of Marine Organisms’ (CalMarO) and the project by German Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF) ‘Biological Impacts of Ocean ACIDification’ (BIOACID). The experiments were conducted at the Norwegian National Mesocosm Centre, Espegrend, in cooperation with the University of Bergen. The authors are grateful to R. Bellerby and his lab for assistance with the carbonate chemistry and to H. Otteraa, V. Lokøy, F. Midtøy and C. Eizaguirre for various support.

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N2 - Ocean acidification, caused by increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 (refs.1-3), is one of the most critical anthropogenicthreats to marine life. Changes in seawater carbonate chemistry have the potential to disturb calcification, acid-base regulation, blood circulation and respiration, as well as the nervous system of marine organisms, leading to long-term effects such as reduced growth rates and reproduction. In teleost fishes, early life-history stages are particularly vulnerable as they lack specialized internal pH regulatory mechanisms. So far, impacts of relevant CO 2 concentrations on larval fish have been found in behaviour and otolith size, mainly in tropical, non-commercial species. Here we show detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the development of a mass-spawning fish species of high commercial importance. We reared Atlantic cod larvae at three levels of CO 2, (1) present day, (2) end of next century and (3) an extreme, coastal upwelling scenario, in a long-term (months) mesocosm experiment. Exposure to CO 2 resulted in severe to lethal tissue damage in many internal organs, with the degree of damage increasing with CO 2 concentration. As larval survival is the bottleneck to recruitment, ocean acidification has the potential to act as an additional source of natural mortality, affecting populations of already exploited fish stocks.

AB - Ocean acidification, caused by increasing atmospheric concentrations of CO 2 (refs.1-3), is one of the most critical anthropogenicthreats to marine life. Changes in seawater carbonate chemistry have the potential to disturb calcification, acid-base regulation, blood circulation and respiration, as well as the nervous system of marine organisms, leading to long-term effects such as reduced growth rates and reproduction. In teleost fishes, early life-history stages are particularly vulnerable as they lack specialized internal pH regulatory mechanisms. So far, impacts of relevant CO 2 concentrations on larval fish have been found in behaviour and otolith size, mainly in tropical, non-commercial species. Here we show detrimental effects of ocean acidification on the development of a mass-spawning fish species of high commercial importance. We reared Atlantic cod larvae at three levels of CO 2, (1) present day, (2) end of next century and (3) an extreme, coastal upwelling scenario, in a long-term (months) mesocosm experiment. Exposure to CO 2 resulted in severe to lethal tissue damage in many internal organs, with the degree of damage increasing with CO 2 concentration. As larval survival is the bottleneck to recruitment, ocean acidification has the potential to act as an additional source of natural mortality, affecting populations of already exploited fish stocks.

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DO - 10.1038/nclimate1324

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JO - Nature Climate Change

JF - Nature Climate Change

IS - 1

ER -

Severe tissue damage in Atlantic cod larvae under increasing ocean acidification

Abstract

Bibliographical note

UN SDGs

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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