Novel reverse radioisotope labelling experiment reveals carbon assimilation of marine calcifiers under ocean acidification conditions

1. Ocean acidification by anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions is projected to depress metabolic and physiological activity in marine calcifiers. To evaluate the sensitivity of marine organisms against ocean acidification, the assimilation of nutrients into carbonate shells and soft tissues must be examined.

2. We designed a novel experimental protocol, reverse radioisotope labelling, to trace partitioning of nutrients within a single bivalve species under ocean acidification conditions. Injecting CO2 gas, free from radiocarbon, can provide a large contrast between carbon dissolved in the water and the one assimilated from atmosphere. By culturing modern aquifer organisms in acidified seawater, we were able to determine differences in the relative contributions of the end members, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) in seawater and metabolic CO2, to shell carbonate and soft tissues.

3. Under all pCO2 conditions (463, 653, 872, 1137, and 1337 μatm), radiocarbon (Δ14C) values of the...