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Bottle incubations were conducted to examine how exposure to seawater containing 8000 ppm carbon dioxide (CO 2 ; pH 6.95) influenced the growth and reproduction of the keystone copepod Calanus finmarchicus. The chosen concentration of CO 2 is expected to occur over 100s of cubic kilometres of seawater as a result of marine CO 2 storage/disposal, and is also representative of the predicted 'worst-case' atmospheric CO 2 scenario in the year 2300. Growth (egg production and biomass loss) in adult female copepods was not affected by the simulated ocean acidification. In contrast, a maximum of only 4% of the eggs successfully yielded nauplii after 72 h in the experimental treatment. Our results demonstrate that environmental risk assessments for marine CO 2 storage/disposal must look beyond adult mortality as an endpoint. Furthermore, if CO 2 is to be disposed of in the deep sea, the location and timing of such activities must take into consideration the overwintering populations of C. finmarchicus.
Mayor et al. (Thu,) studied this question.