Gene expression and epigenetic responses of the marine Cladoceran, Evadne nordmanni, and the copepod, Acartia clausi, to elevated CO₂

Abstract

The release of anthropogenic carbon emissions into the earth's atmosphere has resulted in changes in oceanic temperature and pH that have an impact on marine organisms and ecosystems (IPCC, 2021).IPCC scenarios project that pCO 2 will continue to climb resulting in an average sea surface temperature increase of 0.6°C-2.0°C and a pH drop of 0.06-0.32 units by the end of the century (IPCC, 2013).The rapid changes in these concurrent stressors is causing concern that some marine organisms may be unable to adapt and that this will reduce the resilience of marine ecosystems in which complex food webs maintain stability (Gledhill et al., 2015).