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Calcification in a marginal sea – influence of seawater [Ca2+] and carbonate chemistry on bivalve shell formation

Calcification in a marginal sea – influence of seawater [Ca2+] and carbonate chemistry on bivalve shell formation
Calcification in a marginal sea – influence of seawater [Ca2+] and carbonate chemistry on bivalve shell formation
In estuarine coastal systems such as the Baltic Sea, mussels suffer from low salinity which limits their distribution. Anthropogenic climate change is expected to cause further desalination which will lead to local extinctions of mussels in the low saline areas. It is commonly accepted that mussel distribution is limited by osmotic stress. However, along the salinity gradient, environmental conditions for biomineralization are successively becoming more adverse as a result of reduced [Ca2+] and dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) availability. In larvae, calcification is an essential process starting during early development with formation of the prodissoconch I (PD I) shell, which is completed under optimal conditions within 2 days. Experimental manipulations of seawater [Ca2+] start to impair PD I formation in Mytilus larvae at concentrations below 3 mM, which corresponds to conditions present in the Baltic at salinities below 8 g kg−1. In addition, lowering dissolved inorganic carbon to critical concentrations (< 1 mM) similarly affected PD I size, which was well correlated with calculated ΩAragonite and [Ca2+][HCO−3] ∕ [H+] in all treatments. Comparing results for larvae from the western Baltic with a population from the central Baltic revealed a significantly higher tolerance of PD I formation to lowered [Ca2+] and [Ca2+][HCO−3] ∕ [H+] in the low saline adapted population. This may result from genetic adaptation to the more adverse environmental conditions prevailing in the low saline areas of the Baltic. The combined effects of lowered [Ca2+] and adverse carbonate chemistry represent major limiting factors for bivalve calcification and can thereby contribute to distribution limits of mussels in the Baltic Sea.
1726-4170
Thomsen, Joern
3dd90cb0-b7ed-4c55-b6cf-fe2bbaea17a1
Ramesh, Kirti
9c74b3b2-d280-4bf3-b547-643c9a3aa4a1
Sanders, Trystan
4f3b5742-82bb-48d6-bcaa-0489c0880628
Bleich, Markus
d513fc02-e6ac-4df5-963a-c8c195051a1c
Melzner, Frank
c95fbb6b-6721-4f38-a22e-2408e9400868
Thomsen, Joern
3dd90cb0-b7ed-4c55-b6cf-fe2bbaea17a1
Ramesh, Kirti
9c74b3b2-d280-4bf3-b547-643c9a3aa4a1
Sanders, Trystan
4f3b5742-82bb-48d6-bcaa-0489c0880628
Bleich, Markus
d513fc02-e6ac-4df5-963a-c8c195051a1c
Melzner, Frank
c95fbb6b-6721-4f38-a22e-2408e9400868

Thomsen, Joern, Ramesh, Kirti, Sanders, Trystan, Bleich, Markus and Melzner, Frank (2018) Calcification in a marginal sea – influence of seawater [Ca2+] and carbonate chemistry on bivalve shell formation. Biogeosciences. (doi:10.5194/bg-15-1469-2018).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In estuarine coastal systems such as the Baltic Sea, mussels suffer from low salinity which limits their distribution. Anthropogenic climate change is expected to cause further desalination which will lead to local extinctions of mussels in the low saline areas. It is commonly accepted that mussel distribution is limited by osmotic stress. However, along the salinity gradient, environmental conditions for biomineralization are successively becoming more adverse as a result of reduced [Ca2+] and dissolved inorganic carbon (CT) availability. In larvae, calcification is an essential process starting during early development with formation of the prodissoconch I (PD I) shell, which is completed under optimal conditions within 2 days. Experimental manipulations of seawater [Ca2+] start to impair PD I formation in Mytilus larvae at concentrations below 3 mM, which corresponds to conditions present in the Baltic at salinities below 8 g kg−1. In addition, lowering dissolved inorganic carbon to critical concentrations (< 1 mM) similarly affected PD I size, which was well correlated with calculated ΩAragonite and [Ca2+][HCO−3] ∕ [H+] in all treatments. Comparing results for larvae from the western Baltic with a population from the central Baltic revealed a significantly higher tolerance of PD I formation to lowered [Ca2+] and [Ca2+][HCO−3] ∕ [H+] in the low saline adapted population. This may result from genetic adaptation to the more adverse environmental conditions prevailing in the low saline areas of the Baltic. The combined effects of lowered [Ca2+] and adverse carbonate chemistry represent major limiting factors for bivalve calcification and can thereby contribute to distribution limits of mussels in the Baltic Sea.

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Published date: 9 March 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 448302
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/448302
ISSN: 1726-4170
PURE UUID: f92f6366-6c33-4778-b654-e66ac642562d
ORCID for Trystan Sanders: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7605-0747

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Date deposited: 19 Apr 2021 16:32
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 11:56

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Contributors

Author: Joern Thomsen
Author: Kirti Ramesh
Author: Trystan Sanders ORCID iD
Author: Markus Bleich
Author: Frank Melzner

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