Diatoms account for up to 40% of marine primary production and require silicic acid to grow and build their opal shell. On the physiological and ecological level, diatoms are thought to be resistant to, or even benefit from, ocean acidification. Yet, global-scale responses and implications for biogeochemical cycles in the future ocean remain largely unknown. Here we conducted five in situ mesocosm experiments with natural plankton communities in different biomes and find that ocean acidification increases the elemental ratio of silicon (Si) to nitrogen (N) of sinking biogenic matter by 17 ± 6 per cent under pCO2 conditions projected for the year 2100. This shift in Si:N seems to be caused by slower chemical dissolution of silica at decreasing seawater pH. We test this finding with global sediment trap data, which confirm a widespread influence of pH on Si:N in the oceanic water column. Earth system model simulations show that a future pH-driven decrease in silica dissolution of sinking material reduces the availability of silicic acid in the surface ocean, triggering a global decline of diatoms by 13–26 per cent due to ocean acidification by the year 2200. This outcome contrasts sharply with the conclusions of previous experimental studies, thereby illustrating how our current understanding of biological impacts of ocean change can be considerably altered at the global scale through unexpected feedback mechanisms in the Earth system.
Phytoplankton populations can display high levels of genetic diversity that, when reflected by phenotypic variability, may stabilize a species response to environmental changes. We studied the effects of increased temperature and CO2 availability as predicted consequences of global change, on 16 genetically different isolates of the diatom Skeletonema marinoi from the Adriatic Sea and the Skagerrak (North Sea), and on eight strains of the PST (paralytic shellfish toxin)-producing dinoflagellate Alexandrium ostenfeldii from the Baltic Sea. Maximum growth rates were estimated in batch cultures of acclimated isolates grown for five to 10 generations in a factorial design at 20 and 24 °C, and present day and next century applied atmospheric pCO2, respectively. In both species, individual strains were affected in different ways by increased temperature and pCO2. The strongest response variability, buffering overall effects, was detected among Adriatic S. marinoi strains. Skagerrak strains showed a more uniform response, particularly to increased temperature, with an overall positive effect on growth. Increased temperature also caused a general growth stimulation in A. ostenfeldii, despite notable variability in strain-specific response patterns. Our data revealed a significant relationship between strain-specific growth rates and the impact of pCO2 on growth-slow growing cultures were generally positively affected, while fast growing cultures showed no or negative responses to increased pCO2. Toxin composition of A. ostenfeldii was consistently altered by elevated temperature and increased CO2 supply in the tested strains, resulting in overall promotion of saxitoxin production by both treatments. Our findings suggest that phenotypic variability within populations plays an important role in the adaptation of phytoplankton to changing environments, potentially attenuating short-term effects and forming the basis for selection. In particular, A. ostenfeldii blooms may expand and increase in toxicity under increased water temperature and atmospheric pCO2 conditions, with potentially severe consequences for the coastal ecosystem.
This data was collected during the 'ICE CHASER' cruise from the southern North Sea to the Arctic (Svalbard) in July-Aug 2008. This data consists of coccolithophore abundance, calcification and primary production rates, carbonate chemistry parameters and ancillary data of macronutrients, chlorophyll-a, average mixed layer irradiance, daily irradiance above the sea surface, euphotic and mixed layer depth, temperature and salinity.
The polar oceans are experiencing some of the largest levels of ocean acidification (OA) resulting from the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2). Our understanding of the impacts this is having on polar marine communities is mainly derived from studies of single species in laboratory conditions, while the consequences for food web interactions remain largely unknown. This study carried out experimental manipulations of natural pelagic communities at different high latitude sites in both the northern (Nordic Seas) and southern hemispheres (Scotia and Weddell Seas). The aim of this study was to identify more generic responses and greater experimental reproducibility through implementing a series of short term (4 day), multilevel (3 treatment) carbonate chemistry manipulation experiments on unfiltered natural surface ocean communities, including grazing copepods. The experiments were successfully executed at six different sites, covering a diverse range of environmental conditions and differing plankton community compositions. The study identified the interaction between copepods and dinoflagellate cell abundance to be significantly altered by elevated levels of dissolved CO2 (pCO2), with dinoflagellates decreasing relative to ambient conditions across all six experiments. A similar pattern was not observed in any other major phytoplankton group. The patterns indicate that copepods show a stronger preference for dinoflagellates when in elevated pCO2 conditions, demonstrating that changes in food quality and altered grazing selectivity may be a major consequence of ocean acidification. The study also found that transparent exopolymeric particles (TEP) generally increased when pCO2 levels were elevated, but the response was dependent on the exact set of environmental conditions. Bacteria and nannoplankton showed a neutral response to elevated pCO2 and there was no significant relationship between changes in bacterial or nannoplankton abundance and that of TEP concentrations. Overall, the study illustrated that, although some similar responses exist, these contrasting high latitude surface ocean communities are likely to show different responses to the onset of elevated pCO2.
We studied the response of the heterotrophic flagellate (HF) community to the combined impact of warming and ocean acidification in a mesocosm experiment with a plankton community from the western Baltic Sea. We performed a quantitative analysis of the response at the level of total biomass and size classes and a semi-quantitative one at the level of individual taxa. Total biomass of HF was significantly lower under higher temperatures while there was no significant effect of CO2. The mean biomass of the picoflagellates did not respond to temperature while the three nanoflagellate size classes (class limits 3, 5, 8, 15 ?m) responded negatively to warming while not responding to CO2. The taxon-level results indicate that heterotrophic flagellates do not form a homogenous trophic guild, as often assumed in pelagic food web studies. Instead, the heterotrophic flagellates formed a ?food web within the food web?. There was a pronounced succession of flagellates leading from a dominance of bacterivores and colloidal matter feeders before the phytoplankton bloom to omnivorous feeders preying upon phytoplankton and heterotrophic flagellates during and after the bloom. This complex intraguild predation patterns probably dampened the response to experimental treatments.
Four strains of the coccolithophore E. huxleyi (RCC1212, RCC1216, RCC1238, RCC1256) were grown in dilute batch culture at four CO2 levels ranging from ~200 µatm to ~1200 µatm. Growth rate, particulate organic carbon content, and particulate inorganic carbon content were measured, and organic and inorganic carbon production calculated. The four strains did not show a uniform response to carbonate chemistry changes in any of the analysed parameters and none of the four strains displayed a response pattern previously described for this species. We conclude that the sensitivity of different strains of E. huxleyi to acidification differs substantially and that this likely has a genetic basis. We propose that this can explain apparently contradictory results reported in the literature.
Four strains of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi (RCC1212, RCC1216, RCC1238, RCC1256) were grown in dilute batch culture at four CO2 levels ranging from ~200 µatm to ~1200 µatm. Coccolith morphology was analyzed based on scanning electron micrographs. Three of the four strains did not exhibit a change in morphology over the CO2 range tested. One strain (RCC1256) displayed an increase in the percentage of malformed coccoliths with increasing CO2 concentration. We conclude that the sensitivity of the coccolith-shaping machinery to carbonate chemistry changes is strain-specific. Although it has been shown before that carbonate chemistry related changes in growth- and calcification rate are strain-specific, there seems to be no consistent correlation between coccolith morphology and growth or calcification rate. We did not observe an increase in the percentage of incomplete coccoliths in RCC1256, indicating that the coccolith-shaping machinery per se is affected by acidification and not the signalling pathway that produces the stop-signal for coccolith growth.
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