Short-term exposure to independent and combined acidification and warming elicits differential responses from two tropical seagrass-associated invertebrate grazers

Baure, Jerwin G.Roleda, Michael Y.Juinio-Meñez, Marie Antonette2025-04-272023-08-10Baure, J. G., Roleda, M. Y., & Juinio-Meñez, M. A. (2023). Short-term exposure to independent and combined acidification and warming elicits differential responses from two tropical seagrass-associated invertebrate grazers. Marine Biology, 170(9), Article 114.0025-31621432-179310.1007/s00227-023-04262-9https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14697/342This work was supported by the Department of Science and Technology–Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development under Grant QMSR-MRRD-MEC-295-1449. The authors would like to thank Dr. Ian Enochs for his invaluable help in improving this paper. We also thank Tirso Catbagan, Garry Bucol, Rona Soy and Tomilyn Jan Garpa for their assistance during the conduct of this study. We would also like to thank the Marine Biogeochemistry Laboratory of the UP Marine Science Institute for their assistance in analyzing our water samples as well as the DNA Barcoding Laboratory of the UP Institute of Biology for the species identification of our animals.Ocean acidification and warming could affect animal physiology, key trophic interactions and ecosystem functioning in the long term. This study investigates the effects of four pH−temperature combination treatments simulating ocean acidification (OA), ocean warming (OW) and combined OA and OW conditions (FUTURE) relative to ambient present-day conditions (PRESENT) on the grazing of the juveniles of two seagrass-associated invertebrates namely the sea cucumber Stichopus cf. horrens and topshell Trochus maculatus over a 5-day exposure period. Diel and feeding activity of both species increased under OW and FUTURE to some extent, while the nighttime activity of Trochus but not Stichopus decreased under OA relative to PRESENT during the first 2 days. Fecal production of Stichopus did not differ among treatments, while the lowest fecal production of Trochus was observed under OA during the first 24 h of grazing. These responses suggest that Trochus may be initially more sensitive to OA compared with Stichopus. Interestingly, fecal production of Trochus in FUTURE was significantly higher than OA, suggesting that warming may ameliorate the negative effect of acidification. Diel activity, feeding and fecal production after 5 days did not differ among treatments for both species, suggesting acclimation to the acute changes in temperature and pH after a few days, although Stichopus acclimated rapidly than Trochus. The ability of the two juvenile invertebrate grazers to rapidly acclimate to increased temperature and lowered pH conditions after short-term exposure may favor their survival under projected changes in ocean conditions.enOcean acidificationSeagrassesAquatic invertebrates--PhysiologyGrazingGastropodaGlobal warmingClimatic changesShort-term exposure to independent and combined acidification and warming elicits differential responses from two tropical seagrass-associated invertebrate grazersArticleSDG 14 - Life below waterSDG 13 - Climate actionacidificationsea grassesphysiologyinvertebratesphysiological adaptationgrazingglobal warmingclimate changeChallenge 2: Protect and restore ecosystems and biodiversityChallenge 5: Unlock ocean-based solutions to climate change