Connecting pH with body size in the marine gastropod Trophon geversianus in a latitudinal gradient along the south-western Atlantic coast

There is growing concern about the impact of contemporaneous ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, but strong evidence for predicting the consequences is still scant. We have used the gastropod Trophon geversianus as a study model for exploring the importance of oceanographic variables (sea surf...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Malvé, Mariano Ezequiel, Gordillo, Sandra, Rivadeneira, Marcelo
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:Argentina
Institución:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
Repositorio:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/129958
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11336/129958
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:ARGENTINEAN COAST
BERGMANN'S RULE
BODY SIZE
DEATH ASSEMBLAGE
MARINE GASTROPOD
MURICIDAE
OCEAN ACIDIFICATION
PATAGONIA
TEMPERATURE-SIZE RULE
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
Descripción
Sumario:There is growing concern about the impact of contemporaneous ocean acidification on marine ecosystems, but strong evidence for predicting the consequences is still scant. We have used the gastropod Trophon geversianus as a study model for exploring the importance of oceanographic variables (sea surface temperature, chlorophyll a, oxygen, calcite and pH) on large-scale latitudinal variation in mean shell length and relative shell weight. Data were collected from a survey carried out in 34 sites along ~1600 km. Neither shell length nor relative shell weight showed any monotonic latitudinal trend, and the patterns of spatial variability were rather complex. After correcting for spatial autocorrelation, only pH showed a significant correlation with mean shell length and relative shell weight, but contrary to expectations, the association was negative in both cases. We hypothesize that this could mirror the negative effect of acidification on growth rate, which may cause larger asymptotic size. Latitudinal trends of body size variation are not easy to generalize using ecogeographic rules, and may be the result of a complex interaction of environmental drivers and life-history responses.