title: Ocean acidification changes the male fitness landscape.
abstract: Sperm competition is extremely common in many ecologically important marine taxa. Ocean acidification (OA) is driving rapid changes to the marine environments in which freely spawned sperm operate, yet the consequences of OA on sperm performance are poorly understood in the context of sperm competition. Here, we investigated the impacts of OA (+1000 μatm pCO2) on sperm competitiveness for the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. Males with faster sperm had greater competitive fertilisation success in both seawater conditions. Similarly, males with more motile sperm had greater sperm competitiveness, but only under current pCO2 levels. Under OA the strength of this association was significantly reduced and there were male sperm performance rank changes under OA, such that the best males in current conditions are not necessarily best under OA. Therefore OA will likely change the male fitness landscape, providing a mechanism by which environmental change alters the genetic landscape of marine species.
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
authors.forename: Anna L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Campbell
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, Florida State University, King Life Sciences Building, 319 Stadium Drive, Tallahassee, FL, 32306-1100, USA.
authors.forename: Don R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Levitan
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Cornwall CampusTreliever Road, Penryn, Cornwall, TR10 9FE, UK.
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Hosken
authors.affiliation: College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, Geoffrey Pope Building, Stocker Road, Exeter, EX4 4QD, UK.
authors.forename: Ceri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lewis
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D057231:Climate Change; D008297:Male; D009792:Oceans and Seas; D047328:Paracentrotus / Q000378:metabolism*; D013094:Spermatozoa / Q000378:metabolism*