Effects of in situ CO2 enrichment on structural characteristics, photosynthesis, and growth of the Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica

• Published in: Biogeosciences
• Main Authors: Cox, Traci Erin, Gazeau, Frédéric, Alliouane, Samir, Hendriks, Iris E., Mahacek, Paul, le Fur, Arnaud, Gattuso, Jean-Pierre
• Other Authors: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France), BNP Paribas, Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (France), European Commission
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: European Geosciences Union 2016
• Subjects: Ocean acidification
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10261/132472; https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-2179-2016; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004794; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100004617; https://doi.org/10.13039/501100000780

Seagrass is expected to benefit from increased carbon availability under future ocean acidification. This hypothesis has been little tested by in situ manipulation. To test for ocean acidification effects on seagrass meadows under controlled CO/pH conditions, we used a Free Ocean Carbon Dioxide Enrichment (FOCE) system which allows for the manipulation of pH as continuous offset from ambient. It was deployed in a Posidonia oceanica meadow at 11m depth in the Northwestern Mediterranean Sea. It consisted of two benthic enclosures, an experimental and a control unit both 1.7m, and an additional reference plot in the ambient environment (2m/ to account for structural artifacts. The meadow was monitored from April to November 2014. The pH of the experimental enclosure was lowered by 0.26 pH units for the second half of the 8-month study. The greatest magnitude of change in P. oceanica leaf biometrics, photosynthesis, and leaf growth accompanied seasonal changes recorded in the environment and values were similar between the two enclosures. Leaf thickness may change in response to lower pH but this requires further testing. Results are congruent with other short-term and natural studies that have investigated the response of P. oceanica over a wide range of pH. They suggest any benefit from ocean acidification, over the next century (at a pH of ∼7.7 on the total scale), on Posidonia physiology and growth may be minimal and difficult to detect without increased replication or longer experimental duration. The limited stimulation, which did not surpass any enclosure or seasonal effect, casts doubts on speculations that elevated CO WOULD confer resistance to thermal stress and increase the buffering capacity of meadows. This work was funded by the “European Free Ocean Carbon Enrichment” (eFOCE; BNP Paribas Foundation), the European Commission through the project “Mediterranean Sea Acidification in a changing climate” (MedSeA; grant agreement 265103) and the MISTRALS-MERMEX (INSU, CNRS) program Peer Reviewed