We examined the long-term effects of near-future changes in temperature and acidification on skeletal mineralogy, thickness and strength in the sea urchin Tripneustes gratilla reared in all combinations of three pH (pH 8.1, 7.8, 7.6) and three temperatures (22 oC, 25 oC, 28 oC) from the early juvenile to adult, over 146 days. As the high-magnesium calcite of the echinoderm skeleton is a biomineral form highly sensitive to acidification, and influenced by temperature, we documented the MgCO3 content of the spines, test plates, and teeth. The percentage of MgCO3 varied systematically, with more Mg2+ in the test and spines. The percentage of MgCO3 in the test and teeth, but not the spines increased with temperature. Acidification did not change the percentage MgCO3. Test thickness increased with warming and decreased at pH 7.6, with no interaction between these factors. In crushing tests live urchins mostly ruptured at sutures between the plates. The force required to crush a live urchin was reduced in animals reared in low pH conditions but increased in those reared in warm conditions, a result driven by differences in urchin size. It appears that the interactive effects of warming and acidification on the Mg2+ content and protective function of the sea urchin skeleton will play out in a complex way as global climatic change unfolds.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 5. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 01 October 2014.
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Altmetric has tracked 28,840,878 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 72nd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 23,158 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 18.2. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 59% of its peers.
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