A positive temperature-dependent effect of elevated CO2 on growth and lipid accumulation in the planktonic copepod, Calanus finmarchicus

Calanus finmarchicus were reared from eggs to adults at 12 degrees C and 16 degrees C with non-limiting food in combination with ambient (600 mu atm) and high (1100 mu atm) pCO(2). These conditions are likely to be encountered by the species at the southern margins of its biogeographical range by the end of the century. Dry weight (DW), carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mass, oil-sac volume (OSV), fatty acid composition (FA), and oxygen consumption rates (OCR) were measured on newly molted stage CV copepodites and recently molted adult females. By focusing our measurements on these precise events in the life cycle, we were able to obtain a more accurate comparison of growth and respiration across treatments. Copepods raised at 12 degrees C had a significantly greater DW, OSV, and C and N mass than those raised at 16 degrees C High pCO(2), independent of temperature, was associated with a further increase in the DW and C content of the copepods. Interactive effects of temperature and pCO(2) resulted in a larger OSV at low temperature and high pCO(2). Mass-specific respiration rates were significantly lower at lower temperatures and elevated pCO(2) suggesting that the increase in mass (DW, C, and OSV) resulted from reduced metabolic cost. The composition of fatty acids in the copepods varied mainly with temperature. Two fatty acids varied with pCO(2): 16:0 tended to decrease with higher pCO(2) and 18:3n-3 tended to increase with higher pCO(2). These observations suggest that elevated pCO(2)/lower pH in future oceans may have a beneficial effect on C. finmarchicus.