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Abstract

Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba) have a keystone role in the Southern Ocean, as the primary prey of Antarctic predators. Decreases in krill abundance could result in a major ecological regime shift, but there is limited information on how climate change may affect krill. Increasing anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are causing ocean acidification, as absorption of atmospheric CO2 in seawater alters ocean chemistry. Ocean acidification increases mortality and negatively affects physiological functioning in some marine invertebrates, and is predicted to occur most rapidly at high latitudes. Here we show that, in the laboratory, adult krill are able to survive, grow, store fat, mature, and maintain respiration rates when exposed to near-future ocean acidification (1000–2000 μatm pCO2) for one year. Despite differences in seawater pCO2 incubation conditions, adult krill are able to actively maintain the acid-base balance of their body fluids in near-future pCO2, which enhances their resilience to ocean acidification.

Item Type:	Article
Authors/Creators:	Ericson, JA and Hellessey, N and Kawaguchi, S and Nicol, S and Nichols, PD and Hoem, N and Virtue, P
Keywords:	ocean acidification, CO2, krill
Journal or Publication Title:	Communications Biology
Publisher:	Nature Publishing Group
ISSN:	2399-3642
DOI / ID Number:	10.1038/s42003-018-0195-3
Copyright Information:	© 2018 The Authors. Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Related URLs:	UTAS Profile: Nicol, S UTAS Profile: Nichols, PD Google Scholar: Virtue, P UTAS Profile: Virtue, P
Item Statistics:	View statistics for this item

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