The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Phytoplankton

A special issue of Diversity (ISSN 1424-2818). This special issue belongs to the section "Marine Diversity".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2019)

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Interests: phytoplankton ecophysiology; ocean acidification; climate change; trace metals; volcanic ash; multiple stressors; pigments

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Assistant Guest Editor
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
Interests: phytoplankton ecology; microbial ecology; ocean acidification

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Marine phytoplankton are a phylogenetically diverse group of organisms, considered together due to their shared occupancy of the surface ocean and predominantly photoautotrophic life mode. The major phytoplankton groups span two kingdoms and include diatoms, coccolithophores, green algae, dinoflagellates, and cyanobacteria. Combined, marine phytoplankton are responsible for approximately 50% of global primary production, and play a key role in marine food webs and biogeochemical cycling. The vast phylogenetic diversity in phytoplankton corresponds to substantive functional diversity. For example, diatoms and coccolithophores are significant contributors to carbon export due to their heavy biogenic structures. Dinoflagellates account for a large fraction of phytoplankton primary production and form important connections in marine food webs due to their complex life modes. Cyanobacteria are the numerically dominant primary producers in tropical and subtropical oceans and harbor diazotrophic genera which dominate planktonic nitrogen fixation.

The dissolution of atmospheric carbon dioxide into the surface ocean, driven by anthropogenic emissions, is altering inorganic carbon speciation and decreasing mean surface ocean pH in a process known as ocean acidification. The physiological, ecological, and evolutionary responses of marine phytoplankton to ocean acidification might have major implications for marine food webs and biogeochemical cycles in a future ocean. Despite the significant research effort dedicated to understanding phytoplankton responses to ocean acidification, considerable gaps remain in our understanding.

This Special Issue highlights new advances in our understanding of phytoplankton responses to ocean acidification alone and in combination with other environmental perturbations, and the implications of these responses for the functioning of marine ecosystems in a future ocean.

Dr. Linn Hoffmann
Dr. Ro Allen
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Ocean acidification
  • Marine phytoplankton
  • Phytoplankton ecology
  • Phytoplankton physiology
  • Phytoplankton evolution
  • Multiple stressors
  • Impacts on ecosystems

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

13 pages, 1766 KiB  
Article
Diatoms Dominate and Alter Marine Food-Webs When CO2 Rises
by Ben P. Harvey, Sylvain Agostini, Koetsu Kon, Shigeki Wada and Jason M. Hall-Spencer
Diversity 2019, 11(12), 242; https://doi.org/10.3390/d11120242 - 16 Dec 2019
Cited by 35 | Viewed by 7631
Abstract
Diatoms are so important in ocean food-webs that any human induced changes in their abundance could have major effects on the ecology of our seas. The large chain-forming diatom Biddulphia biddulphiana greatly increases in abundance as pCO2 increases along natural seawater [...] Read more.
Diatoms are so important in ocean food-webs that any human induced changes in their abundance could have major effects on the ecology of our seas. The large chain-forming diatom Biddulphia biddulphiana greatly increases in abundance as pCO2 increases along natural seawater CO2 gradients in the north Pacific Ocean. In areas with reference levels of pCO2, it was hard to find, but as seawater carbon dioxide levels rose, it replaced seaweeds and became the main habitat-forming species on the seabed. This diatom algal turf supported a marine invertebrate community that was much less diverse and completely differed from the benthic communities found at present-day levels of pCO2. Seawater CO2 enrichment stimulated the growth and photosynthetic efficiency of benthic diatoms, but reduced the abundance of calcified grazers such as gastropods and sea urchins. These observations suggest that ocean acidification will shift photic zone community composition so that coastal food-web structure and ecosystem function are homogenised, simplified, and more strongly affected by seasonal algal blooms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Phytoplankton)
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