Antarctic echinoids and climate change: A major impact on th
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TitleAntarctic echinoids and climate change: A major impact on the brooding formsAbstractOcean acidification (OA) and the accompanying changes to carbonate concentrations are predicted to have especially negative impacts in the Southern Ocean where, as a result of colder temperatures, there will be shallowing of both the aragonite (ASH) and calcite saturation horizons (CSH). Echinoids are a dominant group of the Antarctic macrofauna which, because of their high-Mg calcite skeleton, are particularly susceptible to changes in the ASH. Using published information on the bathymetric distributions of Antarctic echinoids, we show that the majority of heavily calcified echinoids have their lower bathymetric limit above a depth of ca. 3000m, approximately the current depth of the CSH. Echinoids whose depth range extends below 3000m generally have thin, weakly calcified tests and include species from the Order Holasteroida, and the Families Cidaridae and Schizasteridae. Examination of the reproductive mode of Antarctic echinoids shows that brooding, where calcification of the young occurs in the same CaCO 3 environment as the mother, is primarily found at a depth above 3000m. The predicted shallowing of the ASH and CSH under OA conditions is likely to negatively impact growth and reproduction of heavily calcified brooders in the Family Cidaridae, which may result in changes to bathymetric ranges, local population extinction, and associated losses in macrofaunal biodiversity. As with other calcified deep sea invertebrates, echinoids may be particularly vulnerable to the impacts of increased CO 2 and OA in the Southern Ocean. รข"' 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.AcknowledgementsWe thank Profs. Craig Young, Philippe Dubois and John Lawrence for sharing their knowledge of the deep sea, high Mg-calcites and echinoderms respectively; a University of Auckland Research and Study Leave grant (M. A. S.) and US National Science Foundation Grants ANT-0944210 and ANT-0808947 (G. E. H.) for support during the preparation of this manuscript. The comments of three anonymous reviewers were particularly helpful in clarifying our thinking.
TypeArticleCitationSewell, M. and Hofmann, G. (2011) Antarctic echinoids and climate change: A major impact on the brooding forms. Global Change Biology, 17(2):734-744 doi:10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02288.x IdentifierSewell2011aRelevancerank3
Hofmann, G., Antarctic echinoids and climate change: A major impact on th , [Sewell2011a]. Antarctica NZ, accessed 14/09/2026, https://adam.antarcticanz.govt.nz/nodes/view/63760, 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2010.02288.x
