Seawater carbonate chemistry and food chain transfer of Polonium between primary producers and consumers

• Main Authors: Behbehani, Montaha, Uddin, Saif, Dupont, Sam, Fowler, Scott W, Gorgun, Aysun U, Al-Enezi, Yousef, Al-Musallam, Lamya, Kumar, Vanitha V, Faizuddin, Mohammad
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: PANGAEA 2023
• Subjects: Acartia pacifica; Alkalinity; total; standard error; Animalia; Aragonite saturation state; Arthropoda; Bicarbonate ion; Calcite saturation state; Calculated using CO2SYS; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon; inorganic; dissolved; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon dioxide; Category; Coast and continental shelf; Containers and aquaria (20-1000 L or < 1 m**2); Euterpina acutifrons; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Indian Ocean; Inorganic toxins; Laboratory experiment; Mass; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Other studied parameter or process; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Parvocalanus crassirostris; Pelagos; pH; Polonium-209; activity; activity per mass; Salinity; Single species; Species; Temperate; Temperature; Ocean acidification; Copepods
• Online Access: https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.959783; https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.959783

Phytoplankton and zooplankton are key marine components that play an important role in metal distribution through a food web transfer. An increased phytoplankton concentration as a result of ocean acidification and warming are well-established, along with the fact that phytoplankton biomagnify 210Po by 3–4 orders of magnitude compared to the seawater concentration. This experimental study is carried out to better understand the transfer of polonium between primary producers and consumers. The experimental produced data highlight the complex interaction between the polonium concentration in zooplankton food, i.e. phytoplankton, its excretion via defecated fecal pellets, and its bioaccumulation at ambient seawater pH and a lower pH of 7.7, typical of ocean acidification scenarios in the open ocean. The mass of copepods recovered was 11% less: 7.7 pH compared to 8.2. The effects of copepod species (n = 3), microalgae species (n = 3), pH (n = 2), and time (n = 4) on the polonium activity in the fecal pellets (expressed as % of the total activity introduced through feeding) was tested using an ANOVA 4. With the exception of time (model: F20, 215 = 176.84, p < 0.001; time: F3 = 1.76, p = 0.16), all tested parameters had an impact on the polonium activity (copepod species: F2 = 169.15, p < 0.0001; algae species: F2 = 10.21, p < 0.0001; pH: F1 = 9.85, p = 0.002) with complex interactions (copepod x algae: F2 = 19.48, p < 0.0001; copepod x pH: F2 = 10.54, p < 0.0001; algae x pH: F2 = 4.87, p = 0.009). The experimental data underpin the hypothesis that metal bioavailability and bioaccumulation will be enhanced in secondary consumers such as crustacean zooplankton due to ocean acidification.