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Cod and climate in a latitudinal cline: physiological analyses of climate effects in marine fishes
Pörtner, H.O.; Bock, C.; Knust, R.; Lannig, G.; Lucassen, M.; Mark, F.C.; Sartoris, F.J. (2008). Cod and climate in a latitudinal cline: physiological analyses of climate effects in marine fishes. Clim. Res. 37: 253-270. https://dx.doi.org/10.3354/cr00766
In: Climate Research. Inter-Research: Oldendorf/Luhe. ISSN 0936-577X; e-ISSN 1616-1572, more
Also appears in:
Fortier, L.; Hawkins, S.; Kleypas, J.; Lima, M.; Ottersen, G.; Pörtner, H.O.; Shirayama, Y.; Stenseth, N.Ch. (Ed.) (2008). Effects of climate change on marine ecosystems: Selected papers from Inter-Research Symposium No. 2, held in conjunction with the 42nd European Marine Biology Symposium (EMBS), August 27-31, 2007, Kiel, Germany. European Marine Biology Symposia, 42. Climate Research, 37(2-3). 121-270 pp., more
Peer reviewed article  

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Keywords
    Gadus morhua Linnaeus, 1758 [WoRMS]; Zoarces viviparus (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]
    Marine/Coastal
Author keywords
    Acclimation; Body size; Climate sensitivity; Cod; Eelpout; Growth; Oxygen limitation; Population; Thermal tolerance

Authors  Top 
  • Pörtner, H.O.
  • Bock, C.
  • Knust, R., more
  • Lannig, G.
  • Lucassen, M.
  • Mark, F.C.
  • Sartoris, F.J.

Abstract
    Characteristics of temperature-dependent metabolic adaptation, as well as their implications for climate-dependent energy budgets, biogeography and fitness are reviewed and analysed for populations of Atlantic cod Gadus morhua in relation to findings in other fish species from northern and southern hemispheres, especially various species of eelpout (Zoarcidae). The analysis builds on the recently posited concept of oxygen- and capacity-dependent thermal tolerance in aquatic ectotherms. Mechanistic physiological studies are used to explain both functional differences between populations and current observations (such as the northward movement of cod, or the changes in seasonal abundance of eelpout due to global warming). Available data support the hypothesis that natural selection favours individuals that maximize growth and energy efficiency at the expense of ranges of thermal tolerance. The levels of energy turnover are subject to the constraints of resource availability and temperature variability. Temperature variability in the cold, such as in the sub-Arctic, causes a rise in maintenance costs at the expense of growth, but possibly in favour of motility, and thus of foraging capacity. These different trends are mirrored in higher capacities for gene expression of key enzymes involved in aerobic metabolism (during cold acclimation) in northern as compared to southern cod populations of the East Atlantic. However, detailed patterns, as well as many of the underlying mechanisms, remain underexplored, especially with respect to the suggested hierarchy of energy allocation to energy budget components.

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