ALBERT

Description: Physical and chemical parameters and associated coccolithophores species/Emiliania huxleyi morphotypes abundances and biovolume and co-occurring microplankton abundances recorded in southern Patagonia (~ 50-54 ºS) during the austral late-spring 2015 (at the end of november) and early-spring 2017 (at the end of september). Given the scarcity of data about coccolithophores in Patagonian waters and the impressive nearly a century spring-summer reports of Emiliania huxleyi blooms around the North Sea and Norwegian fjords system we want to observe what happens in this side of the planet. To do that, we collected seawater containing planktonic organisms at the surface and in some stations up to 75 m depth. Inverted microscopy along with SEM analyses were used to identify and quantify the planktonic items.

Description: The data-sets comes from three locations representative of three different marine ecosystems: Fjord (Chilean Patagonia), Ny-Ålesund (Arctic) and Mediterranean (Crete). It contains chemical and biological data collected in three mesocosm and four microcosm experiments conducted in the spring - summer period, in which the physico-chemical (pH, Carbon) and biological (grazing) conditions were altered to represent potential future climate change scenarios. The data-sets contains measurements in: carbonate chemistry, macro- and micro-nutrients concentrations, primary production, phytoplankton taxonomy, virus abundance, bacterial production, bacterial abundance, Zoo- and microzoo-plankton abundance, grazing rates for different taxonomic groups.

Description: The data-sets comes from three locations representative of three different marine ecosystems: Fjord (Chilean Patagonia), Ny-Ålesund (Arctic) and Mediterranean (Crete). It contains chemical and biological data collected in three mesocosm and four microcosm experiments conducted in the spring - summer period, in which the physico-chemical (pH, Carbon) and biological (grazing) conditions were altered to represent potential future climate change scenarios. The data-sets contains measurements in: carbonate chemistry, macro- and micro-nutrients concentrations, primary production, phytoplankton taxonomy, virus abundance, bacterial production, bacterial abundance, Zoo- and microzoo-plankton abundance, grazing rates for different taxonomic groups.

Description: Physical and chemical parameters and associated coccolithophores species/Emiliania huxleyi morphotypes abundances and biovolume and co-occurring microplankton abundances recorded in southern Patagonia (~ 50-54 ºS) during the austral late-spring 2015 (at the end of november) and early-spring 2017 (at the end of september). Given the scarcity of data about coccolithophores in Patagonian waters and the impressive nearly a century spring-summer reports of Emiliania huxleyi blooms around the North Sea and Norwegian fjords system we want to observe what happens in this side of the planet. To do that, we collected seawater containing planktonic organisms at the surface and in some stations up to 75 m depth. Inverted microscopy along with SEM analyses were used to identify and quantify the planktonic items. Determination of salinity and temperature was made with a YSI- 30 Termosalinometer (Yellow Springs, OH, USA) and pCO2 was determined with a Qubit-S157 CO2-analyzer (Kingston, Ontario, Canada). Macronutrients, opal and pH were determined as described in Torres et al. (2020; doi:10.1016/j.ecss.2020.106597). Full carbonate system parameters (including Ωcal) were estimated from pH, AT, salinity, temperature (25 °C as input and in situ temperature as output conditions), pressure (0 dbar as input and depth as output conditions) using CO2Sys Excel macro spreadsheet version 2.1 (Pierrot et al., 2006) with Mehrbach set of solubility constants (Mehrbach et al., 1973) refitted by Dickson and Millero (Dickson and Millero, 1987). To extrapolate full carbonate parameters from pCO2 (onboard sensor) and salinity measurements where alkalinity samples were not directly available, the regression curve for the salinity-AT relationship (μmol kg–1) = 63.4 × salinity + 101 (R2 = 0.99, N = 186; Torres et al., 2020) was used to derive AT estimated from salinity.

Description: Physical and chemical parameters and associated coccolithophores species/Emiliania huxleyi morphotypes abundances and biovolume and co-occurring microplankton abundances recorded in southern Patagonia (~ 50-54 ºS) during the austral late-spring 2015 (at the end of november) and early-spring 2017 (at the end of september). Given the scarcity of data about coccolithophores in Patagonian waters and the impressive nearly a century spring-summer reports of Emiliania huxleyi blooms around the North Sea and Norwegian fjords system we want to observe what happens in this side of the planet. To do that, we collected seawater containing planktonic organisms at the surface and in some stations up to 75 m depth. Inverted microscopy along with SEM analyses were used to identify and quantify the planktonic items.

Description: High latitudes are considered particularly vulnerable to ocean acidification, since they are naturally low in carbonate ions. The edible mussel Mytilus chilensis is a common calcifier inhabiting marine ecosystems of the southern Chile, where culturing of this species is concentrated and where algal blooms produced by the toxic dinoflagellate A. catenella are becoming more frequent. Juvenile Mytilus chilensis were exposed to experimental conditions simulating two environmental phenomena: pCO2 increase and the presence of paralytic shellfish toxins (PST) produced by the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella. Individuals were exposed to two levels of pCO2: 380 μatm (control condition) and 1000 μatm (future conditions) over a period of 39 days (acclimation), followed by another period of 40 days exposure to a combination of pCO2 and PST. Both factors significantly affected most of the physiological variables measured (feeding, metabolism and scope for growth). However, these effects greatly varied over time, which can be explained by the high individual variability described for mussels exposed to different environmental conditions. Absorption efficiency was not affected by the independent effect of the toxic diet; however, the diet and pCO2 interaction affected it significantly. The inhibition of the physiological processes related with energy acquisition by diets containing PST, may negatively impact mussel fitness, which could have important consequences for both wild and cultured mussel populations, and thus, for socioeconomic development in southern Chile.

Description: Estuaries are characterized by high fluctuation of their environmental conditions. Environmental parameters measured show that the seawater properties of the Quempillén estuary (i.e. temperature, salinity, pCO2, pH and Omega CaCO3) were highly fluctuating and related with season and tide. We test the effects of increasing temperature and pCO2 in the seawater on the physiological energetics of the bivalve Ostrea chilensis. Juvenile oysters were exposed to an orthogonal combination of three temperatures (10, 15, and 20°C) and two pCO2 levels (400 and 1000 μatm) for a period of 60 days to evaluate the temporal effect (i.e. 10, 20, 30, 60 days) on the physiological rates of the oysters. Results indicated a significant effect of temperature and time of exposure on the clearance rate, while pCO2 and the interaction between pCO2 and the other factors studied did not show significant effects. Significant effects of temperature and time of exposure were also observed on the absorption rate, but not the pCO2 nor its interaction with other factors studied. Oxygen consumption was significantly affected by pCO2, temperature and time. Scope for growth was only significantly affected by time; despite this, the highest values were observed for individuals subject to to 20°C and to 1000 μatm pCO2. In this study, Ostrea chilensis showed high phenotypic plasticity to respond to the high levels of temperature and pCO2 experienced in its habitat as no negative physiological effects were observed. Thus, the highly variable conditions of this organism's environment could select for individuals that are more resistant to future scenarios of climate change, mainly to warming and acidification.

Description: Changes in phenotypic traits, such as mollusc shells, are indicative of variations in selective pressure along environmental gradients. Recently, increased sea surface temperature (SST) and ocean acidification (OA) due to increased levels of carbon dioxide in the seawater have been described as selective agents that may affect the biological processes underlying shell formation in calcifying marine organisms. The benthic snail Concholepas concholepas (Muricidae) is widely distributed along the Chilean coast, and so is naturally exposed to a strong physical-chemical latitudinal gradient. In this study, based on elliptical Fourier analysis, we assess changes in shell morphology (outlines analysis) in juvenile C. concholepas collected at northern (23°S), central (33°S) and southern (39°S) locations off the Chilean coast. Shell morphology of individuals collected in northern and central regions correspond to extreme morphotypes, which is in agreement with both the observed regional differences in the shell apex outlines, the high reclassification success of individuals (discriminant function analysis) collected in these regions, and the scaling relationship in shell weight variability among regions. However, these extreme morphotypes showed similar patterns of mineralization of calcium carbonate forms (calcite and aragonite). Geographical variability in shell shape of C. concholepas described by discriminant functions was partially explained by environmental variables (pCO2, SST). This suggests the influence of corrosive waters, such as upwelling and freshwaters penetrating into the coastal ocean, upon spatial variation in shell morphology. Changes in the proportion of calcium carbonate forms precipitated by C. concholepas across their shells and its susceptibility to corrosive coastal waters are discussed.