Publications by authors named "Felix C Mark"

Understanding how ecological, environmental and geographic features influence population genetic patterns provides crucial insights into a species' evolutionary history, as well as their vulnerability or resilience under climate change. In the Southern Ocean, population genetic variation is influenced across multiple spatial scales ranging from circum-Antarctic, which encompasses the entire continent, to regional, with varying levels of geographic separation. However, comprehensive analyses testing the relative importance of different environmental and geographic variables on genomic variation across these scales are generally lacking in the Southern Ocean.

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Conflicting results remain on the impacts of climate change on marine organisms, hindering our capacity to predict the future state of marine ecosystems. To account for species-specific responses and for the ambiguous relation of most metrics to fitness, we develop a meta-analytical approach based on the deviation of responses from reference values (absolute change) to complement meta-analyses of directional (relative) changes in responses. Using this approach, we evaluate responses of fish and invertebrates to warming and acidification.

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The marine-based West Antarctic Ice Sheet (WAIS) is considered vulnerable to irreversible collapse under future climate trajectories, and its tipping point may lie within the mitigated warming scenarios of 1.5° to 2°C of the United Nations Paris Agreement. Knowledge of ice loss during similarly warm past climates could resolve this uncertainty, including the Last Interglacial when global sea levels were 5 to 10 meters higher than today and global average temperatures were 0.

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Article Synopsis
  • Protein turnover is energy-intensive and varies between species, with the Antarctic eelpout showing adaptations for cold environments while the temperate eelpout is affected by temperature changes.
  • In a study, protein synthesis rates were higher in the temperate species, while protein degradation capabilities were significantly greater in the Antarctic eelpout, with temperatures having minimal impact on the Antarctic species' protein synthesis.
  • Metabolic profiling revealed that the Antarctic eelpout has a richer pool of complex and essential amino acids, demonstrating a more stable and efficient protein turnover in colder, stable environments compared to the temperate counterpart.
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Physiological effects of ocean acidification associated with elevated CO2 concentrations in seawater is the subject of numerous studies in teleost fish. While the short time within-generation impact of ocean acidification (OA) on acid-base exchange and energy metabolism is relatively well described, the effects associated with transgenerational exposure to OA are much less known. Yet, the impacts of OA can vary in time with the potential for acclimation or adaptation of a species.

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Direct measurements of temperature-dependent weight gains are experimentally challenging and time-consuming in long-lived/slow-growing organisms such as Antarctic fish. Here, we reassess methodology to quantify the in vivo protein synthesis rate from amino acids, as a key component of growth. We tested whether it is possible to avoid hazardous radioactive materials and whether the analytical pathway chosen is robust against analytical errors.

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Background: Progressive CO-induced ocean acidification (OA) impacts marine life in ways that are difficult to predict but are likely to become exacerbated over generations. Although marine fishes can balance acid-base homeostasis efficiently, indirect ionic regulation that alter neurosensory systems can result in behavioural abnormalities. In marine invertebrates, OA can also affect immune system function, but whether this is the case in marine fishes is not fully understood.

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An ongoing loss of experts in marine cellular biochemistry and physiology (CBP) is stagnating the generation of knowledge upon which rapidly growing "omics" approaches rely, ultimately hampering our ability to predict organismal responses to climate change.

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European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) is a large, economically important fish species with a long generation time whose long-term resilience to ocean acidification (OA) and warming (OW) is not clear. We incubated sea bass from Brittany (France) for two generations (>5 years in total) under ambient and predicted OA conditions (PCO2: 650 and 1700 µatm) crossed with ambient and predicted OW conditions in F1 (temperature: 15-18°C and 20-23°C) to investigate the effects of climate change on larval and juvenile growth and metabolic rate. We found that in F1, OA as a single stressor at ambient temperature did not affect larval or juvenile growth and OW increased developmental time and growth rate, but OAW decreased larval size at metamorphosis.

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The retreating ice cover of the Central Arctic Ocean (CAO) fuels speculations on future fisheries. However, very little is known about the existence of harvestable fish stocks in this 3.3 million-square kilometer ecosystem around the North Pole.

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Since sensory system allows organisms to perceive and interact with their external environment, any disruption in their functioning may have detrimental consequences on their survival. Ocean acidification has been shown to potentially impair olfactory system in fish and it is therefore essential to develop biological tools contributing to better characterize such effects. The olfactory marker protein (omp) gene is involved in the maturation and the activity of olfactory sensory neurons in vertebrates.

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Article Synopsis
  • - Environmental change and biodiversity loss present significant challenges for conservationists, emphasizing the need for strong scientific evidence to guide effective decision-making.
  • - Conservation Physiology offers a framework to understand population declines, predict environmental responses, and test conservation strategies across various species and ecosystems.
  • - The text outlines 10 priority research themes with 100 specific questions that aim to address key conservation issues, such as adaptation, human-wildlife interactions, and pollution, ultimately to enhance the management of biological resources.
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The current and projected environmental change of the Arctic Ocean contrasts sharply with the limited knowledge of its genetic biodiversity. Polar cod Boreogadus saida (Lepechin, 1774) is an abundant circumpolar marine fish and ecological key species. The central role of polar cod in the Arctic marine food web warrants a better understanding of its population structure and connectivity.

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Mitochondrial function can provide key insights into how fish will respond to climate change, due to its important role in heart performance, energy metabolism and oxidative stress. However, whether warm acclimation can maintain or improve the energetic status of the fish heart when exposed to short-term heat stress is not well understood. We acclimated Atlantic salmon, a highly aerobic eurythermal species, to 12 and 20 °C, then measured cardiac mitochondrial functionality and integrity at 20 °C and at 24, 26 and 28 °C (this species' critical thermal maximum ± 2 °C).

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Applying physiological tools, knowledge and concepts to understand conservation problems (i.e. conservation physiology) has become commonplace and confers an ability to understand mechanistic processes, develop predictive models and identify cause-and-effect relationships.

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When organisms are unable to feed ad libitum they may be more susceptible to negative effects of environmental stressors such as ocean acidification and warming (OAW). We reared sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) at 15 or 20 °C and at ambient or high PCO (650 versus 1750 µatm PCO; pH = 8.1 or 7.

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Article Synopsis
  • Antarctic icefish exhibit unique adaptations like lacking hemoglobin and having large blood vessels, which help them survive in the extreme cold of the Southern Ocean.
  • Researchers sequenced the complete genome of icefish and compared it to other fish species to understand the evolutionary changes that led to the loss of certain genes.
  • The study uncovered specific gene regulation patterns related to mitochondrial function and identified genetic changes that contribute to the icefish's distinct physiological traits.
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The world's oceans are acidifying and warming as a result of increasing atmospheric CO concentrations. The thermal tolerance of fish greatly depends on the cardiovascular ability to supply the tissues with oxygen. The highly oxygen-dependent heart mitochondria thus might play a key role in shaping an organism's tolerance to temperature.

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Ocean acidification and ocean warming (OAW) are simultaneously occurring and could pose ecological challenges to marine life, particularly early life stages of fish that, although they are internal calcifiers, may have poorly developed acid-base regulation. This study assessed the effect of projected OAW on key fitness traits (growth, development and swimming ability) in European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) larvae and juveniles. Starting at 2 days post-hatch (dph), larvae were exposed to one of three levels of PCO2 (650, 1150, 1700 μatm; pH 8.

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In the last few decades, numerous studies have investigated the impacts of simulated ocean acidification on marine species and communities, particularly those inhabiting dynamic coastal systems. Despite these research efforts, there are many gaps in our understanding, particularly with respect to physiological mechanisms that lead to pathologies. In this review, we trace how carbonate system disturbances propagate from the coastal environment into marine invertebrates and highlight mechanistic links between these disturbances and organism function.

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Article Synopsis
  • Dinoflagellates are unique microbial eukaryotes with large nuclear genomes but small, fragmented organelle genomes that contain fewer genes compared to other eukaryotes.
  • The genus Syndiniales includes highly diverse endoparasites that infect dinoflagellates, including species responsible for harmful algal blooms.
  • The genome of a specific dinoflagellate was sequenced, revealing that it has essential biosynthetic pathways for self-sustenance, has lost its plastid, and shows no mitochondrial genome, with mitochondrial proteins instead encoded in the nucleus.
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Atlantic herring () is a benthic spawner, therefore its eggs are prone to encounter different water conditions during embryonic development, with bottom waters often depleted of oxygen and enriched in CO. Some Atlantic herring spawning grounds are predicted to be highly affected by ongoing Ocean Acidification and Warming with water temperature increasing by up to +3°C and CO levels reaching ca. 1000 μatm (RCP 8.

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