Can Crabs Beat Global Warming?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this project was to find if ocean acidification and global warming affect the thermal tolerance of crabs. Methods/Materials Crabs were collected from the intertidal and put them in tanks of either a pH of 8.0 or 7.1. An infrared sensor was attached to the crabs and connected to a heartbeat recording system. The heartbeats were converted to a heart rate. I attached the crabs to this system and then set them in a water bath in a jar of water at the pH level they had been living in. Over the course of an hour I increased the temperature of the water bath and simultaneously recorded water temperature and crab heart rate. I then compared temperature and heart rate to find the critical temperature. Results The crabs under the influence of the lowered pH had a lower critical temperature. I found that females were also more vulnerable to the lowered pH than the males. Conclusions/Discussion I concluded that crabs' thermal tolerance is affected by global warming in a negative way. This is important because this could also affect other crustaceans in the same way and affect the food web.

Competition history

• CSEF 2014 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry J1702

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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