Long photoperiods sustain high pH in Arctic kelp forests

• Published in: Science Advances
• Main Authors: Krause-Jensen, Dorte, Marbà, Núria, Sanz-Martin, Marina, Hendriks, Iris E, Thyrring, Jakob, Carstensen, Jacob, Sejr, Mikael Kristian, Duarte, Carlos M.
• Other Authors: Biological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division, Marine Science Program, Red Sea Research Center (RSRC), Arctic Research Centre, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, Building 1540, 8000 Århus C, Denmark., Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Vejlsøvej 25, DK-8600 Silkeborg, Denmark., Department of Global Change Research, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-Universidad de las Islas Baleares), Miquel Marquès 21, 07190 Esporles, Spain., Facultat de Geologia, Universitat de Barcelona, 08028 Barcelona, Spain., Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Frederiksborgvej 399, DK-4000 Roskilde, Denmark., Faculty of Biosciences, Fisheries and Economics, University of Tromsø, Tromsø, Norway.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) 2016
• Subjects: acidification; Arctic kelp; macrophytes; metabolism; pH; photoperiod; Photosynthesis; respiration; plant-climate interactions; Arctic; Greenland; Greenland Institute of Natural Resources; Ocean acidification; Sea ice; Subarctic
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10754/656417; https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501938

Concern on the impacts of ocean acidification on calcifiers, such as bivalves, sea urchins, and foraminifers, has led to efforts to understand the controls on pH in their habitats, which include kelp forests and seagrass meadows. The metabolism of these habitats can lead to diel fluctuation in pH with increases during the day and declines at night, suggesting no net effect on pH at time scales longer than daily. We examined the capacity of subarctic and Arctic kelps to up-regulate pH in situ and experimentally tested the role of photoperiod in determining the capacity of Arctic macrophytes to up-regulate pH. Field observations at photoperiods of 15 and 24 hours in Greenland combined with experimental manipulations of photoperiod show that photoperiods longer than 21 hours, characteristic of Arctic summers, are conducive to sustained up-regulation of pH by kelp photosynthesis. We report a gradual increase in pH of 0.15 units and a parallel decline in pCO2 of 100 parts per million over a 10-day period in an Arctic kelp forest over midsummer, with ample scope for continued pH increase during the months of continuous daylight. Experimental increase in CO2 concentration further stimulated the capacity of macrophytes to deplete CO2 and increase pH. We conclude that long photoperiods in Arctic summers support sustained up-regulation of pH in kelp forests, with potential benefits for calcifiers, and propose that this mechanism may increase with the projected expansion of Arctic vegetation in response to warming and loss of sea ice. We are grateful to J. Baldrich Justel [IMEDEA/Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain] and K. Linding Gerlich (Aarhus University, Denmark) for help in the laboratory and M. Blicher (Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, Greenland), K. Akaaraq, E. Mølgaard, and O. Stecher (Arctic Station, Disko Island, University of Copenhagen, Denmark) for help in the field. Funding: The study was funded by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency within the Danish Cooperation ...