Calcification, a physiological process to be considered in the context of the whole organism

By H. Findlay, Hannah L. Wood, M. Kendall, John I. Spicer, R. Twitchett, Steve Widdicombe. 2009

92 citations recorded by the source corpus.

Abstract. Marine organisms that produce calcium carbonate structures are predicted to be most vulnerable to a decline in oceanic pH (ocean acidification) based on the understanding that calcification rates will decrease as a result of changes in the seawater carbonate chemistry thereby reducing carbonate ion concentration (and associated saturation states). Coastal seas are critical components of the global carbon cycle yet little research has been conducted on acidification impacts on coastal benthic organisms. Here, a critical appraisal of calcification in six benthic species showed, contrary to popular predictions, calcification can increase, and not decrease, in acidified seawater. Measuring the changes in calcium in isolated calcium carbonate structure as well as structures from live animals exposed to acidified seawater allowed a comparison between a species' ability to calcify and the dissolution affects across decreasing levels of pH. Calcium carbonate production is dependant on the ability to increase calcification thus counteracting an increase in dissolution. Comparison with paleoecological studies of past high carbon dioxide (CO2) events presents a similar picture. This conclusion implies that calcification may not be the critical process impacted by ocean acidification; particularly as all species investigated displayed physiological trade offs including reduced metabolism, health, and behavioural responses, in association with this calcification upregulation, which possess as great a threat to survival as an inability to calcify.

Subfields: Ecology, Oceanography

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/344aaefc3d18a72d604581f4fb4cfc8b578111c3

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Citations in the corpus

Effects of ocean acidification over the life history of the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite (2009, background): “To our knowledge, ours is only the second experimental study to investigate the effects of ocean acidification on barnacles (see Findlay et al. 2009), an ecologically important group of benthic calcified marine invertebrates.”
Impact of medium-term exposure to CO2 enriched seawater on the physiological functions of the velvet swimming crab Necora puber. (2010, background): “…and calcite saturation states (Feely et al. 2004, Orr et al. 2005, Andersson et al. 2008) would create waters that are potentially corrosive to calcium carbonate and could compromise organisms’ calcification rates and the integrity of calcium carbonate structures (see Findlay et al. 2009).”
Post-larval development of two intertidal barnacles at elevated CO2 and temperature (2010, background): “as a proxy for changes in calcification or dissolution ( Findlay et al. 2009a ).”
Interaction of ocean acidification and temperature; the high cost of survival in the brittlestar Ophiura ophiura (2010, background): “filiformis, another ophiuroid brittlestar, to water of these pH confirm that calcium (as a measure of calcium carbonate) levels decrease through dissolution (Findlay et al. 2009).”
Vulnerability of marine biodiversity to ocean acidification: A meta-analysis (2010, background): “There is evidence that calcification could even increase in acidified seawater, contradicting the traditional believe that calcification is a critical process impacted by ocean acidification (Findlay et al., 2009).”
Effects of ocean acidification and elevated temperature on shell plasticity and its energetic basis in an intertidal gastropod (2013, methodology): “…for the first time, we formally test if energy limitations (i.e. ATP levels) previously reported for this species when exposed to elevated temperature and pCO2 (Melatunan et al. 2011) are associated with plasticity in shell morphology (as predicted by Pörtner 2008 and Findlay et al. 2009, 2011).”
Comparing the impact of high CO2 on calcium carbonate structures in different marine organisms (2011, methodology): “However, the data presented on M. edulis and Patella vulgata are novel to this study and the data from Bibby et al. (2007), Wood et al. (2008) and Findlay et al. (2009a) have been reanalysed.”
Living in the now: physiological mechanisms to tolerate a rapidly changing environment. (2010, background): “Although a minority of studies report that elevated CO2 does not affect or increases calcification, most studies report decreases in calcification (94).”
Future high CO2 in the intertidal may compromise adult barnacle Semibalanus balanoides survival and embryonic development rate. (2009, background): “Further work investigating lipid storage and cirral movement during winter under normal and acidified conditions will aid our understanding of this energy balance, although energetic trade-offs have been shown in other species under hypercapnic conditions (Wood et al. 2008, Findlay et al. 2009).”