Swift thermal reaction norm evolution in a key coccolithopore species: Reaction norm assay data from an experiment in Kiel from December 2012 to June 2015 ...

• Main Authors: Listmann, Luisa, Reusch, Thorsten B H
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2016
• Subjects: Species; Replicate; Treatment; Temperature, water; Growth rate; Cell size; Salinity; Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification BIOACID; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.1594/pangaea.856736; https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.856736

Temperature has a profound effect on the species composition and physiology of marine phytoplankton, a polyphyletic group of microbes responsible for half of global primary production. Here, we ask whether and how thermal reaction norms in a key calcifying species, the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi, change as a result of 2.5 years of experimental evolution to a temperature about 2°C below its upper thermal limit. Replicate experimental populations derived from a single genotype isolated from Norwegian coastal waters were grown at two temperatures for 2.5 years before assessing thermal responses at 6 temperatures ranging from 15 to 26°C, with pCO2 (400/1100/2200 μatm) as a fully factorial additional factor. The two selection temperatures (15°/26.3°C) led to a marked divergence of thermal reaction norms. Optimal growth temperatures were 0.7°C higher in experimental populations selected at 26.3°C than those selected at 15.0°C. An additional negative effect of high pCO2 on maximal growth rate (8% decrease ... : DFG-Dynatrait (www.dynatrait.de) ...