Acid Seas Slow Urchin Reproduction
Climate change and the subsequent acidification of the world's oceans will significantly reduce the successful fertilisation of certain marine species by the year 2100, an international team of biological scientists has found.
A team from Macquarie University's marine ecology group, led by Dr Jane Williamson, joined forces with the University of Gothenburg in Sweden to study the effects of seawater acidification on sea urchin fertility for the first time, finding a link between decreased pH (increased acid) levels and a reduction in sperm swimming speed and motility.
Williamson said sea urchin gametes and larvae used in the research were exposed to the same acid levels that are predicted to be present in the world's oceans by the year 2100.
The surface of the ocean absorbs up to 30 per cent of the yearly emissions of carbon dioxide. This absorbed carbon dioxide dissolves in the water and forms a weak acid that is gradually increasing the acidity of the oceans...
