Pteropods
Pteropods are shelled organisms about the size of a small pea that are eaten by several organisms of almost every size ranging from krill to whales. These miniscule creatures are threatened by the intensifying ocean acidification, as their shells are prevented from developing by the lack of free calcium carbonate. Because pteropods are at the bottom of many food chains, a decrease in their numbers can possibly destroy the chances of survival of multiple species and not only those of the ocean. For example, pteropods are a major food source for juvenile North Pacific Salmon. This fish is widely consumed not only by humans, but is also a foundation species for the coastal rainforests of the Pacific Northwest. In that capacity it not only provides food to land creatures such as bears, wolves and eagles as they go upstream to spawn but it also provides the nutrients to the very soil of the forest. Without the annual influx of the energy the decomposing salmon provide, the forest would die. Therefore, the decline in numbers of pteropods will eventually threaten not only already endangered animals but an entire terrestrial ecosystem.
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Pteropods, or "sea butterflies" |
Pteropod shell exposed to ocean acidity level in 2100 (pH7.6-7.8)