title: Adult acclimation to combined temperature and pH stressors significantly enhances reproductive outcomes compared to short-term exposures.
abstract: This study examined the effects of long-term culture under altered conditions on the Antarctic sea urchin, Sterechinus neumayeri. Sterechinus neumayeri was cultured under the combined environmental stressors of lowered pH (-0.3 and -0.5 pH units) and increased temperature (+2 °C) for 2 years. This time-scale covered two full reproductive cycles in this species and analyses included studies on both adult metabolism and larval development. Adults took at least 6-8 months to acclimate to the altered conditions, but beyond this, there was no detectable effect of temperature or pH. Animals were spawned after 6 and 17 months exposure to altered conditions, with markedly different outcomes. At 6 months, the percentage hatching and larval survival rates were greatest in the animals kept at 0 °C under current pH conditions, whilst those under lowered pH and +2 °C performed significantly less well. After 17 months, performance was not significantly different across treatments, including controls. However, under the altered conditions urchins produced larger eggs compared with control animals. These data show that under long-term culture adult S. neumayeri appear to acclimate their metabolic and reproductive physiology to the combined stressors of altered pH and increased temperature, with relatively little measureable effect. They also emphasize the importance of long-term studies in evaluating effects of altered pH, particularly in slow developing marine species with long gonad maturation times, as the effects of altered conditions cannot be accurately evaluated unless gonads have fully matured under the new conditions.
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.|Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK.|School of Biological Sciences, Bangor University, Deiniol Road, Gwynedd, Bangor, LL57 2UW, UK.|School of Ocean Sciences, Bangor University, Askew Street, Menai Bridge, Anglesey, LL59 5AB, UK.
authors.forename: Coleen C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Suckling
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Melody S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.|Laboratoire de Sciences de l'Environnement Marin (UMR CNRS 6539), Université de Bretagne Occidentale, Institut Universitaire Européen de la Mer, Technopȏle Brest-Iroise, Place Copernic, Plouzané, F-29280, France.
authors.forename: Joelle
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Richard
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Simon A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Morley
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Michael A S
authors.initials: MAS
authors.lastname: Thorne
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK.
authors.forename: Elizabeth M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Harper
authors.affiliation: British Antarctic Survey, Natural Environment Research Council, High Cross, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ET, UK.
authors.forename: Lloyd S
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Peck
mesh_terms: D000064:Acclimatization; D000818:Animals; D000864:Antarctic Regions; D057231:Climate Change; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D007814:Larva / Q000502:physiology; D010101:Oxygen Consumption; D012098:Reproduction; D012617:Sea Urchins / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D012623:Seawater / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: CO2; echinoderm; gonad maturation; larval development; oxygen consumption; vitellogenesis