The influence of glacial melt and retreat on the nutritional condition of the bivalve Nuculana inaequisculpta (Protobranchia: Nuculanidae) in the West Antarctic Peninsula

Due to climate change, numerous ice bodies have been lost in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). As a consequence, deglaciation is expected to impact the marine environment and its biota at physiological and ecosystem levels. Nuculana inaequisculpta is a marine bivalve widely distributed around Anta...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2020-05, Vol.15 (5), p.e0233513
Main Authors: Bascur, Miguel, Muñoz-Ramírez, Carlos, Román-González, Alejandro, Sheen, Katy, Barnes, David K A, Sands, Chester J, Brante, Antonio, Urzúa, Ángel
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antarctic climate
Antarctic climate changes
Biochemical composition
Biochemistry
Biological research
Biology and Life Sciences
Biota
Bivalves
Bivalvia
Carbohydrates
Chlorophyll
Climate change
Coastal effects
Coastal zone
Deglaciation
Dissolved oxygen
Earth Sciences
Ecology and Environmental Sciences
Ecosystems
Energy
Environmental aspects
Environmental changes
Environmental impact
Environmental science
Fatty acids
Fjords
Food
Food and nutrition
Food availability
Food quality
Glacial effects
Glacier melting
Glacier retreat
Glaciers
Global temperature changes
Islands
Lipids
Marine ecology
Marine ecosystems
Marine environment
Mollusks
Nuculana
Oceanographic parameters
Oxygen
People and Places
Physical Sciences
Physiological aspects
Physiology
Polar environments
Proteins
Salinity
Salinity effects
Sediments
Sediments (Geology)
Shellfish
Surface-ice melting
Temperature
Water
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Summary:Due to climate change, numerous ice bodies have been lost in the West Antarctic Peninsula (WAP). As a consequence, deglaciation is expected to impact the marine environment and its biota at physiological and ecosystem levels. Nuculana inaequisculpta is a marine bivalve widely distributed around Antarctica that plays an important role for ecosystem functioning. Considering that N. inaequisculpta inhabits coastal areas under effect of glacial melt and retreat, impacts on its nutritional condition are expected due to alterations on its physiology and food availability. To test this hypothesis, biochemical composition (lipids, proteins, and fatty acids) and energy content were measured in individuals of N. inaequisculpta collected in a fjord at different distances to the retreating glacier in the WAP. Oceanographic parameters of the top and bottom-water layers (temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll-a) were measured to investigate how the environment changes along the fjord. Results showed that surface oceanographic parameters displayed a lower temperature and dissolved oxygen, but a higher salinity and chlorophyll-a content at nearest compared to farthest sites to the glacier. In contrast, a lower temperature and chlorophyll-a, and a higher salinity and dissolved oxygen was measured in the bottom-water layer toward the glacier. N. inaequisculpta had a higher amount of lipids (17.42 ± 3.24 vs. 12.16 ± 3.46%), protein (24.34 ± 6.12 vs. 21.05 ± 2.46%) and energy content (50.57 ± 6.97 J vs. 39.14 ± 5.80 J) in the farthest compared to the nearest site to the glacier. No differences were found in total fatty acids among all sites. It seems likely that lower individual fitness related to proximity to the glacier would not be related to nutritional quality of sediment food, but rather to food quantity.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0233513