Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification.
The unprecedented rate of CO2 increase in our atmosphere and subsequent ocean acidification (OA) threatens coastal ecosystems. To forecast the functioning of coastal seagrass ecosystems in acidified oceans, more knowledge on the long-term adaptive capacities of seagrass species and their epibionts i...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:0c8f559075e94dd586020fe48b95d572 2023-05-15T17:50:55+02:00 Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. Katja Guilini Miriam Weber Dirk de Beer Matthias Schneider Massimiliano Molari Christian Lott Wanda Bodnar Thibaud Mascart Marleen De Troch Ann Vanreusel 2017-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181531 https://doaj.org/article/0c8f559075e94dd586020fe48b95d572 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5549886?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181531 https://doaj.org/article/0c8f559075e94dd586020fe48b95d572 PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 8, p e0181531 (2017) Medicine R Science Q article 2017 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181531 2022-12-31T16:21:30Z The unprecedented rate of CO2 increase in our atmosphere and subsequent ocean acidification (OA) threatens coastal ecosystems. To forecast the functioning of coastal seagrass ecosystems in acidified oceans, more knowledge on the long-term adaptive capacities of seagrass species and their epibionts is needed. Therefore we studied morphological characteristics of Posidonia oceanica and the structure of its epibiont communities at a Mediterranean volcanic CO2 vent off Panarea Island (Italy) and performed a laboratory experiment to test the effect of OA on P. oceanica photosynthesis and its potential buffering capacity. At the study site east of Basiluzzo Islet, venting of CO2 gas was controlled by tides, resulting in an average pH difference of 0.1 between the vent and reference site. P. oceanica shoot and leaf density was unaffected by these levels of OA, although shorter leaves at the vent site suggest increased susceptibility to erosion, potentially by herbivores. The community of sessile epibionts differed in composition and was characterized by a higher species richness at the vent site, though net epiphytic calcium carbonate concentration was similar. These findings suggest a higher ecosystem complexity at the vent site, which may have facilitated the higher diversity of copepods in the otherwise unaffected motile epibiont community. In the laboratory experiment, P. oceanica photosynthesis increased with decreasing pHT (7.6, 6.6, 5.5), which induced an elevated pH at the leaf surfaces of up to 0.5 units compared to the ambient seawater pHT of 6.6. This suggests a temporary pH buffering in the diffusive boundary layer of leaves, which could be favorable for epibiont organisms. The results of this multispecies study contribute to understanding community-level responses and underlying processes in long-term acidified conditions. Increased replication and monitoring of physico-chemical parameters on an annual scale are, however, recommended to assure that the biological responses observed during a short period ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification Copepods Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLOS ONE 12 8 e0181531 |
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Medicine R Science Q Katja Guilini Miriam Weber Dirk de Beer Matthias Schneider Massimiliano Molari Christian Lott Wanda Bodnar Thibaud Mascart Marleen De Troch Ann Vanreusel Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
The unprecedented rate of CO2 increase in our atmosphere and subsequent ocean acidification (OA) threatens coastal ecosystems. To forecast the functioning of coastal seagrass ecosystems in acidified oceans, more knowledge on the long-term adaptive capacities of seagrass species and their epibionts is needed. Therefore we studied morphological characteristics of Posidonia oceanica and the structure of its epibiont communities at a Mediterranean volcanic CO2 vent off Panarea Island (Italy) and performed a laboratory experiment to test the effect of OA on P. oceanica photosynthesis and its potential buffering capacity. At the study site east of Basiluzzo Islet, venting of CO2 gas was controlled by tides, resulting in an average pH difference of 0.1 between the vent and reference site. P. oceanica shoot and leaf density was unaffected by these levels of OA, although shorter leaves at the vent site suggest increased susceptibility to erosion, potentially by herbivores. The community of sessile epibionts differed in composition and was characterized by a higher species richness at the vent site, though net epiphytic calcium carbonate concentration was similar. These findings suggest a higher ecosystem complexity at the vent site, which may have facilitated the higher diversity of copepods in the otherwise unaffected motile epibiont community. In the laboratory experiment, P. oceanica photosynthesis increased with decreasing pHT (7.6, 6.6, 5.5), which induced an elevated pH at the leaf surfaces of up to 0.5 units compared to the ambient seawater pHT of 6.6. This suggests a temporary pH buffering in the diffusive boundary layer of leaves, which could be favorable for epibiont organisms. The results of this multispecies study contribute to understanding community-level responses and underlying processes in long-term acidified conditions. Increased replication and monitoring of physico-chemical parameters on an annual scale are, however, recommended to assure that the biological responses observed during a short period ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Katja Guilini Miriam Weber Dirk de Beer Matthias Schneider Massimiliano Molari Christian Lott Wanda Bodnar Thibaud Mascart Marleen De Troch Ann Vanreusel |
author_facet |
Katja Guilini Miriam Weber Dirk de Beer Matthias Schneider Massimiliano Molari Christian Lott Wanda Bodnar Thibaud Mascart Marleen De Troch Ann Vanreusel |
author_sort |
Katja Guilini |
title |
Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
title_short |
Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
title_full |
Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
title_fullStr |
Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Response of Posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
title_sort |
response of posidonia oceanica seagrass and its epibiont communities to ocean acidification. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2017 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181531 https://doaj.org/article/0c8f559075e94dd586020fe48b95d572 |
genre |
Ocean acidification Copepods |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification Copepods |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 12, Iss 8, p e0181531 (2017) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5549886?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0181531 https://doaj.org/article/0c8f559075e94dd586020fe48b95d572 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181531 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
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12 |
container_issue |
8 |
container_start_page |
e0181531 |
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