Journal article
Marine invertebrate skeleton size varies with latitude, temperature and carbonate saturation: Implications for global change and ocean acidification
SA Watson, LS Peck, PA Tyler, PC Southgate, KS Tan, RW Day, SA Morley
Global Change Biology | Published : 2012
Abstract
There is great concern over the future effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms, especially for skeletal calcification, yet little is known of natural variation in skeleton size and composition across the globe, and this is a prerequisite for identifying factors currently controlling skeleton mass and thickness. Here, taxonomically controlled latitudinal variations in shell morphology and composition were investigated in bivalve and gastropod molluscs, brachiopods, and echinoids. Total inorganic content, a proxy for skeletal CaCO 3, decreased with latitude, decreasing seawater temperature, and decreasing seawater carbonate saturation state (for CaCO 3 as calcite (Ω cal)) in all tax..
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Awarded by Natural Environment Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
S.-A. Watson was funded by a NERC PhD studentship (NER/S/A/2005/13476) to the School of Ocean and Earth Science, University of Southampton, and a Co-operative Award in Science and Engineering studentship from the British Antarctic Survey. Antarctic fieldwork conducted by S.-A. Watson was funded by an Antarctic Funding Initiative Collaborative Gearing Scheme grant. We thank the Rothera Research Station dive, boating, and support team for assisting in collections. Diving in Antarctica under UK jurisdiction is supported by the NERC National Centre for Scientific Diving, Oban. Miles Lamare from University of Otago provided support for collections of the New Zealand brachiopods. The authors confirm that the sampling of all species and use of animals in experiments were in accordance with respective guidelines and permits. We thank an unknown reviewer who asked us to make the analyses that lead to figure 6, which has improved the article significantly.