Publication Date:
2024-05-24
Description:
This study reports on experiments performed with a Northwest Atlantic species of the macroalgae, Ulva, and the seagrass, Zostera marina, grown under ambient and elevated levels of pCO2, and subjected to competition with each other. When grown individually, elevated pCO2 significantly increased growth rates and productivity of Ulva and Zostera, respectively, beyond control treatments (by threefold and 27%, respectively). For both primary producers, significant declines in tissue δ13C signatures suggested that increased growth and productivity were associated with a shift from use of HCO3− toward CO2 use. When grown under higher pCO2, Zostera experienced significant increases in leaf and rhizome carbon content as well as significant increases in leaf carbon-to-nitrogen ratios, while sediments within which high CO2 Zostera were grown had a significantly higher organic carbon content. When grown in the presence of Ulva; however, above- and below-ground productivity and tissue nitrogen content of Zostera were significantly lower, revealing an antagonistic interaction between elevated CO2 and the presence of Ulva. The presence of Zostera had no significant effect on the growth of Ulva. Collectively, this study demonstrates that while Ulva and Zostera can each individually benefit from elevated pCO2 levels, the ability of Ulva to grow more rapidly and inhibit seagrass productivity under elevated pCO2, coupled with accumulation of organic C in sediments, may offset the potential benefits for Zostera within high CO2 environments.
Keywords:
Alkalinity, total; Ammonium; Ammonium, standard error; Aragonite saturation state; Areal productivity; Areal productivity, standard error; Benthos; Bicarbonate ion; Bicarbonate ion, standard error; Biomass/Abundance/Elemental composition; Biomass production; Biomass production, standard error; Bottles or small containers/Aquaria (〈20 L); Calcite saturation state; Calculated using seacarb after Nisumaa et al. (2010); Carbon, inorganic, dissolved; Carbon, inorganic, dissolved, standard error; Carbon, organic, per unit sediment mass; Carbon, organic, standard error; Carbon, per dry mass; Carbon/Nitrogen ratio; Carbon/Nitrogen ratio, standard error; Carbonate ion; Carbonate system computation flag; Carbon content, per dry mass, standard error; Carbon dioxide; Chlorophyta; Coast and continental shelf; EXP; Experiment; Fugacity of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Growth/Morphology; Growth rate; Growth rate, standard error; Laboratory experiment; Macroalgae; Nitrate; Nitrate, standard error; Nitrogen, per dry mass; Nitrogen content, per dry mass, standard error; North Atlantic; OA-ICC; Ocean Acidification International Coordination Centre; Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air); Partial pressure of carbon dioxide (water) at sea surface temperature (wet air), standard error; pH; pH, standard error; Phosphate; Phosphate, standard error; Plantae; Primary production/Photosynthesis; Registration number of species; Salinity; Salinity, standard error; Seagrass; Shinnecock_Bay; Single species; Species; Species interaction; Temperate; Temperature, water; Temperature, water, standard error; Tracheophyta; Treatment; Type; Ulva lactuca; Uniform resource locator/link to reference; Zostera marina; δ13C; δ13C, standard error
Type:
Dataset
Format:
text/tab-separated-values, 392 data points
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