Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors
Predicting the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on coastal ecosystems requires an understanding of the responses of algae, since these are a vital functional component of shallow-water habitats. We investigated microphytobenthic assemblages on rock and sandy habitats along a shallow subtidal p...
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ftmdpi:oai:mdpi.com:/2077-1312/3/4/1425/ 2023-08-20T04:08:57+02:00 Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors Vivienne Johnson Colin Brownlee Marco Milazzo Jason Hall-Spencer agris 2015-12-01 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041425 EN eng Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041425 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 3; Issue 4; Pages: 1425-1447 cyanobacteria diatoms Mediterranean microphytobenthos ocean acidification multiple stressors Text 2015 ftmdpi https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041425 2023-07-31T20:48:22Z Predicting the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on coastal ecosystems requires an understanding of the responses of algae, since these are a vital functional component of shallow-water habitats. We investigated microphytobenthic assemblages on rock and sandy habitats along a shallow subtidal pCO2 gradient near volcanic seeps in the Mediterranean Sea. Field studies of natural pCO2 gradients help us understand the likely effects of ocean acidification because entire communities are subjected to a realistic suite of environmental stressors such as over-fishing and coastal pollution. Temperature, total alkalinity, salinity, light levels and sediment properties were similar at our study sites. On sand and on rock, benthic diatom abundance and the photosynthetic standing crop of biofilms increased significantly with increasing pCO2. There were also marked shifts in diatom community composition as pCO2 levels increased. Cyanobacterial abundance was only elevated at extremely high levels of pCO2 (>1400 μatm). This is the first demonstration of the tolerance of natural marine benthic microalgae assemblages to elevated CO2 in an ecosystem subjected to multiple environmental stressors. Our observations indicate that Mediterranean coastal systems will alter as pCO2 levels continue to rise, with increased photosynthetic standing crop and taxonomic shifts in microalgal assemblages. Text Ocean acidification MDPI Open Access Publishing Journal of Marine Science and Engineering 3 4 1425 1447 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
MDPI Open Access Publishing |
op_collection_id |
ftmdpi |
language |
English |
topic |
cyanobacteria diatoms Mediterranean microphytobenthos ocean acidification multiple stressors |
spellingShingle |
cyanobacteria diatoms Mediterranean microphytobenthos ocean acidification multiple stressors Vivienne Johnson Colin Brownlee Marco Milazzo Jason Hall-Spencer Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors |
topic_facet |
cyanobacteria diatoms Mediterranean microphytobenthos ocean acidification multiple stressors |
description |
Predicting the effects of anthropogenic CO2 emissions on coastal ecosystems requires an understanding of the responses of algae, since these are a vital functional component of shallow-water habitats. We investigated microphytobenthic assemblages on rock and sandy habitats along a shallow subtidal pCO2 gradient near volcanic seeps in the Mediterranean Sea. Field studies of natural pCO2 gradients help us understand the likely effects of ocean acidification because entire communities are subjected to a realistic suite of environmental stressors such as over-fishing and coastal pollution. Temperature, total alkalinity, salinity, light levels and sediment properties were similar at our study sites. On sand and on rock, benthic diatom abundance and the photosynthetic standing crop of biofilms increased significantly with increasing pCO2. There were also marked shifts in diatom community composition as pCO2 levels increased. Cyanobacterial abundance was only elevated at extremely high levels of pCO2 (>1400 μatm). This is the first demonstration of the tolerance of natural marine benthic microalgae assemblages to elevated CO2 in an ecosystem subjected to multiple environmental stressors. Our observations indicate that Mediterranean coastal systems will alter as pCO2 levels continue to rise, with increased photosynthetic standing crop and taxonomic shifts in microalgal assemblages. |
format |
Text |
author |
Vivienne Johnson Colin Brownlee Marco Milazzo Jason Hall-Spencer |
author_facet |
Vivienne Johnson Colin Brownlee Marco Milazzo Jason Hall-Spencer |
author_sort |
Vivienne Johnson |
title |
Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors |
title_short |
Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors |
title_full |
Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors |
title_fullStr |
Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors |
title_full_unstemmed |
Marine Microphytobenthic Assemblage Shift along a Natural Shallow-Water CO2 Gradient Subjected to Multiple Environmental Stressors |
title_sort |
marine microphytobenthic assemblage shift along a natural shallow-water co2 gradient subjected to multiple environmental stressors |
publisher |
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041425 |
op_coverage |
agris |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering; Volume 3; Issue 4; Pages: 1425-1447 |
op_relation |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041425 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse3041425 |
container_title |
Journal of Marine Science and Engineering |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1425 |
op_container_end_page |
1447 |
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1774721545532342272 |