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The Effects of Acidic and Hypoxic Conditions on the Estuarine Organisms Cyprinodon variegatus (Sheepshead Minnow) and Americamysis bahia (Mysid Shrimp)
Citation:
Moso, E., L. Enzor, C. Hankins, AND M. Barron. The Effects of Acidic and Hypoxic Conditions on the Estuarine Organisms Cyprinodon variegatus (Sheepshead Minnow) and Americamysis bahia (Mysid Shrimp). Society for Integrative & Comparative Biology (SICB) Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, January 04 - 08, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
This work is part of the first phase of the NECAH project, which is identifying species that are sensitive to the combined effects of acidification and hypoxia. The project describes the initial work on the first 2 species selected for testing and the final product will be a poster comparing the results of exposure between these two species. Persons interested in this work may be other researchers attempting to understand the potential interactive effects of elevated pCO2 and hypoxia. Others interested in the work might include policy makers identifying nutrient runoff limits.
Description:
The interactive and combined effects of coastal acidification and hypoxia on estuarine species is an increasing concern as these stressors change concomitantly. There is a need to understand how these environmental factors interact, as well as their effect on estuarine organisms. A method was developed for this research whereby four exposure treatments were created simultaneously: ambient, elevated pCO2, (~1300µatm, IPCC RCP 8.5 scenario), hypoxic (low dissolved oxygen, ~2 mg/L), and combined elevated pCO2 with low dissolved oxygen. An exposure with variant water quality parameters allows for the comparative study of organismal survival response to acidified and hypoxic conditions. The goal of this research is to determine acute species sensitivity, which is determined by survivability, to the combined effects of elevated pCO2 and hypoxia over a 5 day period, as well as possible differences in sensitivity between life-stages. Preliminary research on sheepshead minnow and mysid shrimp, indicates that mysid shrimp were tolerant of both elevated pCO2 and low DO exposure regardless of life-stage, whereas sheepshead minnows were more sensitive to the combined effects of acidification and hypoxia.