Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification
Ocean acidification (OA), caused by the dissolution of increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, is projected to cause significant changes to marine ecology and biogeochemistry. Potential impacts on the microbially driven cycling of nitrogen are of particular concern...
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ftunivtsydney:oai:opus.lib.uts.edu.au:10453/37821 2023-05-15T17:50:50+02:00 Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification Laverock, B Kitidis, V Tait, K Gilbert, JA Osborn, AM Widdicombe, S 2013-10-05 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/10453/37821 unknown Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 10.1098/rstb.2012.0441 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2013, 368 (1627) 0962-8436 http://hdl.handle.net/10453/37821 Evolutionary Biology Hemolymph Animals Ammonia Analysis of Variance Archaea Bacteria Decapoda Geologic Sediments Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Microbiota Oceans and Seas Oxidation-Reduction Population Dynamics Seawater Journal Article 2013 ftunivtsydney 2022-03-13T13:38:49Z Ocean acidification (OA), caused by the dissolution of increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, is projected to cause significant changes to marine ecology and biogeochemistry. Potential impacts on the microbially driven cycling of nitrogen are of particular concern. Specifically, under seawater pH levels approximating future OA scenarios, rates of ammonia oxidation (the rate-limiting first step of the nitrification pathway) have been shown to dramatically decrease in seawater, but not in underlying sediments. However, no prior study has considered the interactive effects of microbial ammonia oxidation and macrofaunal bioturbation activity, which can enhance nitrogen transformation rates. Using experimental mesocosms, we investigated the responses to OA of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms inhabiting surface sediments and sediments within burrow walls of the mud shrimp Upogebia deltaura. Seawater was acidified to one of four target pH values (pHT 7.90, 7.70, 7.35 and 6.80) in comparison with a control (pHT 8.10). At pHT 8.10, ammonia oxidation rates in burrow wall sediments were, on average, fivefold greater than in surface sediments. However, at all acidified pH values (pH ≤ 7.90), ammonia oxidation rates in burrow sediments were significantly inhibited (by 79-97%; p < 0.01), whereas rates in surface sediments were unaffected. Both bacterial and archaeal abundances increased significantly as pHT declined; by contrast, relative abundances of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidation (amoA) genes did not vary. This research suggests that OA could cause substantial reductions in total benthic ammonia oxidation rates in coastal bioturbated sediments, leading to corresponding changes in coupled nitrogen cycling between the benthic and pelagic realms. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ocean acidification University of Technology Sydney: OPUS - Open Publications of UTS Scholars |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Technology Sydney: OPUS - Open Publications of UTS Scholars |
op_collection_id |
ftunivtsydney |
language |
unknown |
topic |
Evolutionary Biology Hemolymph Animals Ammonia Analysis of Variance Archaea Bacteria Decapoda Geologic Sediments Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Microbiota Oceans and Seas Oxidation-Reduction Population Dynamics Seawater |
spellingShingle |
Evolutionary Biology Hemolymph Animals Ammonia Analysis of Variance Archaea Bacteria Decapoda Geologic Sediments Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Microbiota Oceans and Seas Oxidation-Reduction Population Dynamics Seawater Laverock, B Kitidis, V Tait, K Gilbert, JA Osborn, AM Widdicombe, S Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
topic_facet |
Evolutionary Biology Hemolymph Animals Ammonia Analysis of Variance Archaea Bacteria Decapoda Geologic Sediments Hydrogen-Ion Concentration Microbiota Oceans and Seas Oxidation-Reduction Population Dynamics Seawater |
description |
Ocean acidification (OA), caused by the dissolution of increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, is projected to cause significant changes to marine ecology and biogeochemistry. Potential impacts on the microbially driven cycling of nitrogen are of particular concern. Specifically, under seawater pH levels approximating future OA scenarios, rates of ammonia oxidation (the rate-limiting first step of the nitrification pathway) have been shown to dramatically decrease in seawater, but not in underlying sediments. However, no prior study has considered the interactive effects of microbial ammonia oxidation and macrofaunal bioturbation activity, which can enhance nitrogen transformation rates. Using experimental mesocosms, we investigated the responses to OA of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms inhabiting surface sediments and sediments within burrow walls of the mud shrimp Upogebia deltaura. Seawater was acidified to one of four target pH values (pHT 7.90, 7.70, 7.35 and 6.80) in comparison with a control (pHT 8.10). At pHT 8.10, ammonia oxidation rates in burrow wall sediments were, on average, fivefold greater than in surface sediments. However, at all acidified pH values (pH ≤ 7.90), ammonia oxidation rates in burrow sediments were significantly inhibited (by 79-97%; p < 0.01), whereas rates in surface sediments were unaffected. Both bacterial and archaeal abundances increased significantly as pHT declined; by contrast, relative abundances of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidation (amoA) genes did not vary. This research suggests that OA could cause substantial reductions in total benthic ammonia oxidation rates in coastal bioturbated sediments, leading to corresponding changes in coupled nitrogen cycling between the benthic and pelagic realms. © 2013 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Laverock, B Kitidis, V Tait, K Gilbert, JA Osborn, AM Widdicombe, S |
author_facet |
Laverock, B Kitidis, V Tait, K Gilbert, JA Osborn, AM Widdicombe, S |
author_sort |
Laverock, B |
title |
Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
title_short |
Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
title_full |
Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
title_fullStr |
Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
title_full_unstemmed |
Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
title_sort |
bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/10453/37821 |
genre |
Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
Ocean acidification |
op_relation |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 10.1098/rstb.2012.0441 Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 2013, 368 (1627) 0962-8436 http://hdl.handle.net/10453/37821 |
_version_ |
1766157734316605440 |