Rising CO₂ levels in freshwater systems could disturb balance of species - study

Man-made climate change negatively impacts species in freshwater systems through rising CO₂ levels, write researchers from Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) in an article in Current Biology. While ocean acidification is often called “climate change’s equally evil twin” and is being widely studied, research on freshwater systems is rare, writes the university in a press release. The authors researched how the pCO₂ (partial pressure of carbon dioxide) dependent freshwater acidification affected the small planktonic crustacean Daphnia, a food source for many larger organisms, and found that it affected their sense of smell, making them more vulnerable to predators. Studies on other species are now needed, write the authors.

Find the article in English here, and the university’s press release in German here.