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(July 2,
2012) Some coral reef fish may be better prepared to cope with rising CO2 in
the world’s oceans – thanks to their parents.
Researchers
at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies (CoECRS) today reported
in the journal Nature Climate Change encouraging new findings that some fish
may be less vulnerable to high CO2 and an acidifying ocean than previously
feared.
“There has
been a lot of concern around the world about recent findings that baby fish are
highly vulnerable to small increases in acidity, as more CO2 released by human
activities dissolves into the oceans,” says Dr Gabi Miller of CoECRS and James
Cook University.
“Our work
with anemone fish shows that their babies, at least, can adjust to the changes
we expect to occur in the oceans by 2100, provided their parents are also
raised in more acidic water.”