Horn HG et al. (2016), Low CO2 Sensitivity of Microzooplankton Communi...

ECB-ART-45041

PLoS One 2016 Jan 01;1111:e0165800. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0165800.

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Low CO2 Sensitivity of Microzooplankton Communities in the Gullmar Fjord, Skagerrak: Evidence from a Long-Term Mesocosm Study.

Horn HG , Sander N , Stuhr A , Algueró-Muñiz M , Bach LT , Löder MG , Boersma M , Riebesell U , Aberle N .

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Ocean acidification is considered as a crucial stressor for marine communities. In this study, we tested the effects of the IPCC RPC6.0 end-of-century acidification scenario on a natural plankton community in the Gullmar Fjord, Sweden, during a long-term mesocosm experiment from a spring bloom to a mid-summer situation. The focus of this study was on microzooplankton and its interactions with phytoplankton and mesozooplankton. The microzooplankton community was dominated by ciliates, especially small Strombidium sp., with the exception of the last days when heterotrophic dinoflagellates increased in abundance. We did not observe any effects of high CO2 on the community composition and diversity of microzooplankton. While ciliate abundance, biomass and growth rate were not affected by elevated CO2, we observed a positive effect of elevated CO2 on dinoflagellate abundances. Additionally, growth rates of dinoflagellates were significantly higher in the high CO2 treatments. Given the higher Chlorophyll a content measured under high CO2, our results point at mainly indirect effects of CO2 on microzooplankton caused by changes in phytoplankton standing stocks, in this case most likely an increase in small-sized phytoplankton of <8 μm. Overall, the results from the present study covering the most important part of the growing season indicate that coastal microzooplankton communities are rather robust towards realistic acidification scenarios.

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Genes referenced: LOC100893907 LOC115925415

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References [+] :

Aberle, Spring bloom succession, grazing impact and herbivore selectivity of ciliate communities in response to winter warming. 2007, Pubmed

	Fig 1. CO2 concentration and temperature development.Mean CO2 concentrations in the low (blue line) and high CO2 treatments (red line) are shown from day 1 to day 105 as well as mean temperature (black line). Error bars indicate the standard deviation.


	Fig 4. Microzooplankton succession.(A) Ciliate biomass in μg C L-1 in the low (blue) and high CO2 (red) treatments. Grey fields show total mesozooplankton abundance in ind. L-1 at low (dark grey) and high CO2 (light grey). Error bars represent the standard deviation and vertical black lines the four experimental phases denoted by the Latin numbers. (B) Biomass of thecate (filled symbols) and athecate dinoflagellates (open symbols) in μg C L-1.
	Fig 5. Ciliate community composition and diversity.Taxonomic composition of the ciliate community over the course of the experiment based on mean biomass of the (A) low and (B) high CO2 treatments. The black line indicates the species diversity H’.