Seaweed - epiphyte - mesograzer communities were tested for their responses to elevated seawater temperature and [CO2] in benthic mesocosms experiments across four consecutive seasons of one year in Kiel, Germany ...

• Main Authors: Werner, Franziska Julie, Graiff, Angelika, Matthiessen, Birte
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2016
• Subjects: Event label; Location; Experiment; Season; DATE/TIME; Sample code/label; Treatment; Carbon dioxide, partial pressure; Microepiphytes, biomass as carbon; Biomass, dry mass; Number of individuals; Biomass, ash free dry mass; Idotea; Gammarus; Littorina littorea; Biomass, wet mass; Biomass, ash free dry mass per individual; Mesocosm experiment; Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification BIOACID; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.853952; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.853952

Rising seawater temperature and CO2 concentrations (ocean acidification) represent two of the most influential factors impacting marine ecosystems in the face of global climate change. In ecological climate change research full-factorial experiments across seasons in multi-species, cross-trophic level set-ups are essential as they allow making realistic estimations about direct and indirect effects and the relative importance of both major environmental stressors on ecosystems. In benthic mesocosm experiments we tested the responses of coastal Baltic Sea Fucus vesiculosus communities to elevated seawater temperature and CO2 concentrations across four seasons of one year. While increasing [CO2] levels only had minor effects, warming had strong and persistent effects on grazers which affected the Fucus community differently depending on season. In late summer a temperature-driven collapse of grazers caused a cascading effect from the consumers to the foundation species resulting in overgrowth of Fucus thalli ... : Kiel Outdoor BenthocosmsTreatments:Temperature Delta+5°C as compared to the ambient Kiel Fjord seawater temperature, including its natural fluctuationCO2 Delta+600 ppm ...