Response of copepods to elevated pCO2 and environmental copper as co-stressors--a multigenerational study

PLoS One. 2013 Aug 7;8(8):e71257. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0071257. eCollection 2013.

Abstract

We examined the impacts of ocean acidification and copper as co-stressors on the reproduction and population level responses of the benthic copepod Tisbe battagliai across two generations. Naupliar production, growth, and cuticle elemental composition were determined for four pH values: 8.06 (control); 7.95; 7.82; 7.67, with copper addition to concentrations equivalent to those in benthic pore waters. An additive synergistic effect was observed; the decline in naupliar production was greater with added copper at decreasing pH than for decreasing pH alone. Naupliar production modelled for the two generations revealed a negative synergistic impact between ocean acidification and environmentally relevant copper concentrations. Conversely, copper addition enhanced copepod growth, with larger copepods produced at each pH compared to the impact of pH alone. Copepod digests revealed significantly reduced cuticle concentrations of sulphur, phosphorus and calcium under decreasing pH; further, copper uptake increased to toxic levels that lead to reduced naupliar production. These data suggest that ocean acidification will enhance copper bioavailability, resulting in larger, but less fecund individuals that may have an overall detrimental outcome for copepod populations.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Carbon Dioxide / metabolism
  • Carbon Dioxide / pharmacology*
  • Copepoda / drug effects*
  • Copepoda / growth & development
  • Copepoda / metabolism
  • Copper / metabolism
  • Copper / toxicity*
  • Ecosystem
  • Female
  • Fertility / drug effects
  • Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
  • Oceans and Seas
  • Seawater / chemistry
  • Spectrophotometry, Atomic
  • Time Factors
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / metabolism
  • Water Pollutants, Chemical / toxicity*

Substances

  • Water Pollutants, Chemical
  • Carbon Dioxide
  • Copper

Grants and funding

This research was fully sponsored by Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) with grant number NE/G523412/1 as part of NERC funded PhD research. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.