Content:
- »Sea changes testing evolution Scientists hope to learn from sea urchins’ adaptability (Seattle Times)
- »Sea Change: Can sea life adapt to ocean's souring? (Greenwich Time.com)
Sea urchins adapt so quickly they’re helping answer a question that’s key to understanding ocean acidification: As fossil-fuel emissions disrupt marine life, will evolution come to the rescue?
Like Darwin’s finches or Great Britain’s peppered moths, these hedgehogs of the sea increasingly embody nature’s stunning capacity for resilience.
A number of plants and animals threatened by souring seas, including some mussels, abalone, rock oysters, plankton and even a few fish, appear likely — at least at first — to adjust or evolve. But few seem as wired as these saltwater pincushions to come through the next several decades unscathed.
Yet work with urchins, as well as other species, suggests that acidification sooner or later may still push these and other marine organisms beyond what they can tolerate. READ MORE (Greenwich Time.com)
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