Marine biologists have found that black sea urchins in the Mediterranean Sea are remarkably tolerant of warm, acidic water.
Marine biologists have found that black sea urchins in the Mediterranean Sea are remarkably tolerant of warm, acidic water. As a colonising species, the urchins' adaptability could lead to an ecological disaster in our climate change-impacted seas.
In bubbling vents off the coast of Ischia, a volcanic island in the Gulf of Naples, lives a curious population of black sea urchins. For at least 30 years, they have lived in these low pH, carbon dioxide-rich environments – a proxy for climate change-induced acidic oceans.
Now, University of Sydney researchers have determined they can also tolerate unprecedentedly warm sea temperatures – another climate change by-product. This means that these urchins, already one of the most abundant animals in the Mediterranean Sea, will likely plunder further afield as oceans continue to warm and become more acidic.
The researchers have described their findings in Biology Letters, a publication of the Royal Society.
Read more at University of Sydney
Photo Credit: carocarrizo07 via Pixabay
