Primary producers and future ocean scenarios : effect of environmental change on biomolecular composition of phytoplankton and transference to higher trophic levels: effect of environmental change on biomolecular composition of phytoplankton and transference to higher trophic levels
An increasing body of research emphasizes that various biological processes in marine organisms are affected due to the uptake of anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 by the ocean in a process termed as ocean acidification (OA). The magnitude and direction of OA effects varies greatly among species and gen...
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| Other Authors: | , |
| Format: | Doctoral or Postdoctoral Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2014
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| Online Access: | https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:gbv:8-diss-145953 https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/diss_mods_00014595 https://macau.uni-kiel.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/dissertation_derivate_00005452/Thesis%20Rafael%20Bermudez%20Print%20version.pdf |
| Summary: | An increasing body of research emphasizes that various biological processes in marine organisms are affected due to the uptake of anthropogenic atmospheric CO2 by the ocean in a process termed as ocean acidification (OA). The magnitude and direction of OA effects varies greatly among species and genotypes, highlighting different capabilities to adapt to increasing CO2. Direct OA impacts can be expected in the biochemical and elemental composition of primary producers (PP), which may be transferred to higher trophic levels, while indirect impacts can derive from altered trophic interactions as OA can modify plankton community composition. Fatty acids (FA) are the main component of lipids and cell membranes, with polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) having additional important physiological and metabolic roles. Phytoplankton is the main source of essential biomolecules for heterotrophs as they cannot synthesize them de novo. Transference of organic essential macromolecules, in particular PUFA from phytoplankton-to-zooplankton-to-fish is a key factor influencing the life cycle of many organisms including humans. In the present work was investigated how OA influences the food quality of primary producers in terms of their fatty acid makeup at specie and community level, and how these OA-driven changes in the algae affect the fatty acid profile and life cycle of consumers. A combination of short- and long-term experiments on individual algal species, interaction between a single primary producer and one consumer, and natural plankton communities encompassing several producers and consumers were conducted in laboratory and natural conditions. In the short-term experiments at species level, the first and second laboratory study showed that CO2 can affect the biochemical composition of the diatoms Thalassiosira pseudonana and Cylindrotheca fusiformis, reducing their PUFA content; additionally the second diatom showed a reduced amount of amino acids. The interaction between a single primary producer and one consumer showed ... |
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