Effect of Decreasing pH on Artemia franciscana Survivability

by Max Naseef (V), Leon Zhou (V)

Ocean acidification, the decrease in pH of the Earth’s oceans as a result of the absorption of CO 2, is one of the foremost threats to marine ecosystems and by extension humans. It is therefore imperative to better understand the effects of ocean acidification on the survivability and response on a marine model organism like Artemia franciscana, brine shrimp. From this experiment, survivability thresholds can be determined and characterized before permanent damage is done to Earth’s marine ecosystems. 24 hour old A. franciscana was placed into three seawater solutions with varying pH (a control of 8 pH, and treatment groups of 7 pH and 6 pH).

The lethality of each solution at both 24 and 48 hours was then observed. Our 6 pH treatment was discovered to yield a statistically significant difference in survivability, meaning that if low enough, pH does affect the survivability of brine shrimp. This result provides insight into the future potential effects and sustainability of ocean acidification onto marine ecosystems and therefore human life.