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Šibanc N, Clark DR, Helgason T, Dumbrell AJ, Maček I. Extreme environments simplify reassembly of communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. mSystems 2024; 9:e0133123. [PMID: 38376262 PMCID: PMC10949450 DOI: 10.1128/msystems.01331-23] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2023] [Accepted: 01/18/2024] [Indexed: 02/21/2024] Open
Abstract
The ecological impacts of long-term (press) disturbance on mechanisms regulating the relative abundance (i.e., commonness or rarity) and temporal dynamics of species within a community remain largely unknown. This is particularly true for the functionally important arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi; obligate plant-root endosymbionts that colonize more than two-thirds of terrestrial plant species. Here, we use high-resolution amplicon sequencing to examine how AM fungal communities in a specific extreme ecosystem-mofettes or natural CO2 springs caused by geological CO2 exhalations-are affected by long-term stress. We found that in mofettes, specific and temporally stable communities form as a subset of the local metacommunity. These communities are less diverse and dominated by adapted, "stress tolerant" taxa. Those taxa are rare in control locations and more benign environments worldwide, but show a stable temporal pattern in the extreme sites, consistently dominating the communities in grassland mofettes. This pattern of lower diversity and high dominance of specific taxa has been confirmed as relatively stable over several sampling years and is independently observed across multiple geographic locations (mofettes in different countries). This study implies that the response of soil microbial community composition to long-term stress is relatively predictable, which can also reflect the community response to other anthropogenic stressors (e.g., heavy metal pollution or land use change). Moreover, as AM fungi are functionally differentiated, with different taxa providing different benefits to host plants, changes in community structure in response to long-term environmental change have the potential to impact terrestrial plant communities and their productivity.IMPORTANCEArbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi form symbiotic relationships with more than two-thirds of plant species. In return for using plant carbon as their sole energy source, AM fungi improve plant mineral supply, water balance, and protection against pathogens. This work demonstrates the importance of long-term experiments to understand the effects of long-term environmental change and long-term disturbance on terrestrial ecosystems. We demonstrated a consistent response of the AM fungal community to a long-term stress, with lower diversity and a less variable AM fungal community over time under stress conditions compared to the surrounding controls. We have also identified, for the first time, a suite of AM fungal taxa that are consistently observed across broad geographic scales in stressed and anthropogenically heavily influenced ecosystems. This is critical because global environmental change in terrestrial ecosystems requires an integrative approach that considers both above- and below-ground changes and examines patterns over a longer geographic and temporal scale, rather than just single sampling events.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nataša Šibanc
- Department of Agronomy, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
- Department of forest physiology and genetics, Slovenian Forestry Institute, Ljubljana, Slovenia
| | - Dave R. Clark
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
- Institute for Analytics and Data Science, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
| | - Thorunn Helgason
- Department of Biology, University of York, York, United Kingdom
- Institute for Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
| | - Alex J. Dumbrell
- School of Life Sciences, University of Essex, Colchester, United Kingdom
| | - Irena Maček
- Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia
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Fleming MB, Stanley L, Zallen R, Chansler MT, Brudvig LA, Lowry DB, Weber M, Telewski FW. The 141-year period for Dr. Beal's seed viability experiment: A hybrid surprise. Am J Bot 2023; 110:e16250. [PMID: 37812737 DOI: 10.1002/ajb2.16250] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2023] [Revised: 09/27/2023] [Accepted: 09/29/2023] [Indexed: 10/11/2023]
Abstract
PREMISE In 1879, Dr. William Beal buried 20 glass bottles filled with seeds and sand at a single site at Michigan State University. The goal of the experiment was to understand seed longevity in the soil, a topic of general importance in ecology, restoration, conservation, and agriculture, by periodically assaying germinability of these seeds over 100 years. The interval between germination assays has been extended and the experiment will now end after 221 years, in 2100. METHODS We dug up the 16th bottle in April 2021 and attempted to germinate the 141-year-old seeds it contained. We grew germinants to maturity and identified these to species by vegetative and reproductive phenotypes. For the first time in the history of this experiment, genomic DNA was sequenced to confirm species identities. RESULTS Twenty seeds germinated over the 244-day assay. Eight germinated in the first 11 days. All 20 belonged to the Verbascum genus: Nineteen were V. blattaria according to phenotype and ITS2 genotype; and one had a hybrid V. blattaria × V. thapsus phenotype and ITS2 genotype. In total, 20/50 (40%) of the original Verbascum seeds in the bottle germinated in year 141. CONCLUSIONS While most species in the Beal experiment lost all seed viability in the first 60 years, a high percentage of Verbascum seeds can still germinate after 141 years in the soil. Long-term experiments such as this one are rare and invaluable for studying seed viability in natural soil conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Margaret B Fleming
- Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Lauren Stanley
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Robyn Zallen
- Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Science, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Matthew T Chansler
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- MSU Herbarium, Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Lars A Brudvig
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - David B Lowry
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- Plant Resilience Institute, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA
| | - Marjorie Weber
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
| | - Frank W Telewski
- Department of Plant Biology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
- W. J. Beal Botanical Garden and Campus Arboretum, Office of the Provost, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, 48824, USA
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Hawkesford MJ, Riche AB. Impacts of G x E x M on Nitrogen Use Efficiency in Wheat and Future Prospects. Front Plant Sci 2020; 11:1157. [PMID: 32903740 PMCID: PMC7438886 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2020.01157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/29/2020] [Accepted: 07/16/2020] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Globally it has been estimated that only one third of applied N is recovered in the harvested component of grain crops. This represents an incredible waste of resource and the overuse has detrimental environmental and economic consequences. There is substantial variation in nutrient use efficiency (NUE) from region to region, between crops and in different cropping systems. As a consequence, both local and crop specific solutions will be required for NUE improvement at local as well as at national and international levels. Strategies to improve NUE will involve improvements to germplasm and optimized agronomy adapted to climate and location. Essential to effective solutions will be an understanding of genetics (G), environment (E), and management (M) and their interactions (G x E x M). Implementing appropriate solutions will require agronomic management, attention to environmental factors and improved varieties, optimized for current and future climate scenarios. As NUE is a complex trait with many contributing processes, identifying the correct trait for improvement is not trivial. Key processes include nitrogen capture (uptake efficiency), utilization efficiency (closely related to yield), partitioning (harvest index: biochemical and organ-specific) and trade-offs between yield and quality aspects (grain nitrogen content), as well as interactions with capture and utilization of other nutrients. A long-term experiment, the Broadbalk experiment at Rothamsted, highlights many factors influencing yield and nitrogen utilization in wheat over the last 175 years, particularly management and yearly variation. A more recent series of trials conducted over the past 16 years has focused on separating the key physiological sub-traits of NUE, highlighting both genetic and seasonal variation. This perspective describes these two contrasting studies which indicate G x E x M interactions involved in nitrogen utilization and summarizes prospects for the future including the utilization of high throughput phenotyping technology.
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Maček I, Clark DR, Šibanc N, Moser G, Vodnik D, Müller C, Dumbrell AJ. Impacts of long-term elevated atmospheric CO 2 concentrations on communities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. Mol Ecol 2019; 28:3445-3458. [PMID: 31233651 PMCID: PMC6851679 DOI: 10.1111/mec.15160] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2018] [Accepted: 06/04/2019] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Abstract
The ecological impacts of long-term elevated atmospheric CO2 (eCO2 ) levels on soil microbiota remain largely unknown. This is particularly true for the arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, which form mutualistic associations with over two-thirds of terrestrial plant species and are entirely dependent on their plant hosts for carbon. Here, we use high-resolution amplicon sequencing (Illumina, HiSeq) to quantify the response of AM fungal communities to the longest running (>15 years) free-air carbon dioxide enrichment (FACE) experiment in the Northern Hemisphere (GiFACE); providing the first evaluation of these responses from old-growth (>100 years) semi-natural grasslands subjected to a 20% increase in atmospheric CO2 . eCO2 significantly increased AM fungal richness but had a less-pronounced impact on the composition of their communities. However, while broader changes in community composition were not observed, more subtle responses of specific AM fungal taxa were with populations both increasing and decreasing in abundance in response to eCO2 . Most population-level responses to eCO2 were not consistent through time, with a significant interaction between sampling time and eCO2 treatment being observed. This suggests that the temporal dynamics of AM fungal populations may be disturbed by anthropogenic stressors. As AM fungi are functionally differentiated, with different taxa providing different benefits to host plants, changes in population densities in response to eCO2 may significantly impact terrestrial plant communities and their productivity. Thus, predictions regarding future terrestrial ecosystems must consider changes both aboveground and belowground, but avoid relying on broad-scale community-level responses of soil microbes observed on single occasions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irena Maček
- Biotechnical FacultyUniversity of LjubljanaLjubljanaSlovenia
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (FAMNIT)University of PrimorskaKoperSlovenia
| | - Dave R. Clark
- School of Biological SciencesUniversity of EssexColchesterUK
| | - Nataša Šibanc
- Biotechnical FacultyUniversity of LjubljanaLjubljanaSlovenia
- Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technologies (FAMNIT)University of PrimorskaKoperSlovenia
- Slovenian Forestry InstituteLjubljanaSlovenia
| | - Gerald Moser
- Department of Plant EcologyJustus‐Liebig University GiessenGiessenGermany
| | - Dominik Vodnik
- Biotechnical FacultyUniversity of LjubljanaLjubljanaSlovenia
| | - Christoph Müller
- Department of Plant EcologyJustus‐Liebig University GiessenGiessenGermany
- School of Biology and Environmental Science and Earth InstituteUniversity College DublinDublinIreland
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Poulton P, Johnston J, Macdonald A, White R, Powlson D. Major limitations to achieving "4 per 1000" increases in soil organic carbon stock in temperate regions: Evidence from long-term experiments at Rothamsted Research, United Kingdom. Glob Chang Biol 2018; 24:2563-2584. [PMID: 29356243 PMCID: PMC6001646 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.14066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2017] [Accepted: 12/23/2017] [Indexed: 05/18/2023]
Abstract
We evaluated the "4 per 1000" initiative for increasing soil organic carbon (SOC) by analysing rates of SOC increase in treatments in 16 long-term experiments in southeast United Kingdom. The initiative sets a goal for SOC stock to increase by 4‰ per year in the 0-40 cm soil depth, continued over 20 years. Our experiments, on three soil types, provided 114 treatment comparisons over 7-157 years. Treatments included organic additions (incorporated by inversion ploughing), N fertilizers, introducing pasture leys into continuous arable systems, and converting arable land to woodland. In 65% of cases, SOC increases occurred at >7‰ per year in the 0-23 cm depth, approximately equivalent to 4‰ per year in the 0-40 cm depth. In the two longest running experiments (>150 years), annual farmyard manure (FYM) applications at 35 t fresh material per hectare (equivalent to approx. 3.2 t organic C/ha/year) gave SOC increases of 18‰ and 43‰ per year in the 23 cm depth during the first 20 years. Increases exceeding 7‰ per year continued for 40-60 years. In other experiments, with FYM applied at lower rates or not every year, there were increases of 3‰-8‰ per year over several decades. Other treatments gave increases between zero and 19‰ per year over various periods. We conclude that there are severe limitations to achieving the "4 per 1000" goal in practical agriculture over large areas. The reasons include (1) farmers not having the necessary resources (e.g. insufficient manure); (2) some, though not all, practices favouring SOC already widely adopted; (3) practices uneconomic for farmers-potentially overcome by changes in regulations or subsidies; (4) practices undesirable for global food security. We suggest it is more realistic to promote practices for increasing SOC based on improving soil quality and functioning as small increases can have disproportionately large beneficial impacts, though not necessarily translating into increased crop yield.
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul Poulton
- Department of Sustainable Agriculture SciencesRothamsted ResearchHarpendenUK
| | - Johnny Johnston
- Department of Sustainable Agriculture SciencesRothamsted ResearchHarpendenUK
| | - Andy Macdonald
- Department of Sustainable Agriculture SciencesRothamsted ResearchHarpendenUK
| | - Rodger White
- Department of Computational and Analytical SciencesRothamsted ResearchHarpendenUK
| | - David Powlson
- Department of Sustainable Agriculture SciencesRothamsted ResearchHarpendenUK
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Thakur MP, Milcu A, Manning P, Niklaus PA, Roscher C, Power S, Reich PB, Scheu S, Tilman D, Ai F, Guo H, Ji R, Pierce S, Ramirez NG, Richter AN, Steinauer K, Strecker T, Vogel A, Eisenhauer N. Plant diversity drives soil microbial biomass carbon in grasslands irrespective of global environmental change factors. Glob Chang Biol 2015; 21:4076-4085. [PMID: 26118993 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2015] [Accepted: 05/27/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Soil microbial biomass is a key determinant of carbon dynamics in the soil. Several studies have shown that soil microbial biomass significantly increases with plant species diversity, but it remains unclear whether plant species diversity can also stabilize soil microbial biomass in a changing environment. This question is particularly relevant as many global environmental change (GEC) factors, such as drought and nutrient enrichment, have been shown to reduce soil microbial biomass. Experiments with orthogonal manipulations of plant diversity and GEC factors can provide insights whether plant diversity can attenuate such detrimental effects on soil microbial biomass. Here, we present the analysis of 12 different studies with 14 unique orthogonal plant diversity × GEC manipulations in grasslands, where plant diversity and at least one GEC factor (elevated CO2 , nutrient enrichment, drought, earthworm presence, or warming) were manipulated. Our results show that higher plant diversity significantly enhances soil microbial biomass with the strongest effects in long-term field experiments. In contrast, GEC factors had inconsistent effects with only drought having a significant negative effect. Importantly, we report consistent non-significant effects for all 14 interactions between plant diversity and GEC factors, which indicates a limited potential of plant diversity to attenuate the effects of GEC factors on soil microbial biomass. We highlight that plant diversity is a major determinant of soil microbial biomass in experimental grasslands that can influence soil carbon dynamics irrespective of GEC.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madhav Prakash Thakur
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Alexandru Milcu
- CNRS, Ecotron - UPS 3248, Campus Baillarguet, 34980, Montferrier-sur-Lez, France
- CNRS, Centre Centre d'Ecologie Fonctionnelle et Evolutive (CEFE, UMR-5175), 1919 Route de Mende, 34293, Montpellier, France
| | - Pete Manning
- Institute of Plant Sciences, University of Bern, Altenbergrain 21, CH-3013, Bern, Switzerland
| | - Pascal A Niklaus
- Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, CH-8057, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Christiane Roscher
- UFZ, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Community Ecology, Theodor-Lieser-Strasse 4, 06120, Halle, Germany
| | - Sally Power
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 8JL, UK
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
| | - Peter B Reich
- Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW, 2751, Australia
- Department of Forest Resources, University of Minnesota, 1530 North Cleveland Avenue, St. Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Stefan Scheu
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany
| | - David Tilman
- Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, St Paul, MN, 55108, USA
| | - Fuxun Ai
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Xianlin Avenue 163, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Hongyan Guo
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Xianlin Avenue 163, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Rong Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of the Environment, Xianlin Avenue 163, 210023, Nanjing, China
| | - Sarah Pierce
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park, Ascot, Berkshire, SL5 8JL, UK
| | - Nathaly Guerrero Ramirez
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Annabell Nicola Richter
- Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Katja Steinauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Tanja Strecker
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Georg August University Göttingen, Berliner Strasse 28, Göttingen, 37073, Germany
| | - Anja Vogel
- Institute of Ecology, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Dornburger Str. 159, 07743, Jena, Germany
| | - Nico Eisenhauer
- German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv) Halle-Jena-Leipzig, Deutscher Platz 5e, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
- Institute of Biology, University of Leipzig, Johannisallee 21, 04103, Leipzig, Germany
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Ragazzola F, Foster LC, Form AU, Büscher J, Hansteen TH, Fietzke J. Phenotypic plasticity of coralline algae in a High CO2 world. Ecol Evol 2013; 3:3436-46. [PMID: 24223280 PMCID: PMC3797489 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.723] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2013] [Revised: 07/03/2013] [Accepted: 07/07/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
It is important to understand how marine calcifying organisms may acclimatize to ocean acidification to assess their survival over the coming century. We cultured the cold water coralline algae, Lithothamnion glaciale, under elevated pCO2 (408, 566, 770, and 1024 μatm) for 10 months. The results show that the cell (inter and intra) wall thickness is maintained, but there is a reduction in growth rate (linear extension) at all elevated pCO2. Furthermore a decrease in Mg content at the two highest CO2 treatments was observed. Comparison between our data and that at 3 months from the same long-term experiment shows that the acclimation differs over time since at 3 months, the samples cultured under high pCO2 showed a reduction in the cell (inter and intra) wall thickness but a maintained growth rate. This suggests a reallocation of the energy budget between 3 and 10 months and highlights the high degree plasticity that is present. This might provide a selective advantage in future high CO2 world.
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Ragazzola
- GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Wischhofstraße 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany ; Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, BS8 1RJ, U.K
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Ragazzola F, Foster LC, Form A, Anderson PSL, Hansteen TH, Fietzke J. Ocean acidification weakens the structural integrity of coralline algae. Glob Chang Biol 2012; 18:2804-2812. [PMID: 24501058 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2012.02756.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2012] [Revised: 05/02/2012] [Accepted: 05/13/2012] [Indexed: 06/03/2023]
Abstract
The uptake of anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide is resulting in a lowering of the carbonate saturation state and a drop in ocean pH. Understanding how marine calcifying organisms such as coralline algae may acclimatize to ocean acidification is important to understand their survival over the coming century. We present the first long-term perturbation experiment on the cold-water coralline algae, which are important marine calcifiers in the benthic ecosystems particularly at the higher latitudes. Lithothamnion glaciale, after three months incubation, continued to calcify even in undersaturated conditions with a significant trend towards lower growth rates with increasing pCO2 . However, the major changes in the ultra-structure occur by 589 μatm (i.e. in saturated waters). Finite element models of the algae grown at these heightened levels show an increase in the total strain energy of nearly an order of magnitude and an uneven distribution of the stress inside the skeleton when subjected to similar loads as algae grown at ambient levels. This weakening of the structure is likely to reduce the ability of the alga to resist boring by predators and wave energy with severe consequences to the benthic community structure in the immediate future (50 years).
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Affiliation(s)
- Federica Ragazzola
- Department of Earth Sciences, University of Bristol, Wills Memorial Building, Queen's Road, BS8 1RJ, Bristol, UK; GEOMAR, Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research, Wischhofstraße 1-3, 24148, Kiel, Germany
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro J Aphalo
- Department of Biological and Environmental Science PO Box 3540014 University of Jyväskylä, Finland(tel +358 14 260 2339; fax +358 14 260 2321;email )
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