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The ecological response of natural phytoplankton population and related metabolic rates to future ocean acidification

  • Ecology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Ocean acidification (OA) and global warming-induced water column stratification can significantly alter phytoplankton-related biological activity in the marine ecosystem. Yet how these changes may play out in the tropical Indian Ocean remains unclear. This study investigated the ecological and metabolic responses of the different phytoplankton functional groups to elevated CO2 partial pressure and nitrate deficiency in two different environments of the eastern Indian Ocean (EIO). It is revealed that phytoplankton growth and metabolic rates are more sensitive to inorganic nutrients rather than CO2. The combined interactive effects of OA and N-limitation on phytoplankton populations are functional group-specific. In particular, the abundance and calcification rate of calcifying coccolithophores are expected to be enhanced in the future EIO. The underlying mechanisms for this enhancement may be ascribed to coccolithophore’s lower carbon concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) efficiency and OA-induced [HCO −3 ] increase. In comparison, the abundance of non-calcifying microphytoplankton (e.g., diatoms and dinoflagellates) and primary productivity would be inhibited under those conditions. Different from previous laboratory experiments, interspecific competition for resources would be an important consideration in the natural phytoplankton populations. These combined factors would roughly determine calcifying coccolithophores as “winners” and non-calcifying microphytoplankton as “losers” in the future ocean scenario. Due to the large species-specific differences in phytoplankton sensitivity to OA, comprehensive investigations on oceanic phytoplankton communities are essential to precisely predict phytoplankton ecophysiological response to ocean acidification.

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Data Availability Statement

The data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. Misun YUN (Tianjin University of Science and Technology, China) and Dr. Dhiraj Dhondiram NARALE (Adani Power, India) for comments on the manuscript. Special thanks to the Open Cruise Project in the eastern Indian Ocean of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NORC2017-10) for sharing their ship time.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Centre for Indian Ocean Ecosystem, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin, 300457, China

    Haijiao Liu, Yuying Zhao, Chao Wu, Wenzhe Xu, Xiaodong Zhang, Guicheng Zhang & Jun Sun

  2. College of Marine Science and Technology, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China

    Satheeswaran Thangaraj & Jun Sun

  3. Department of Marine Science, Incheon National University, Incheon, 22012, Republic of Korea

    Satheeswaran Thangaraj

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  1. Haijiao Liu
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  2. Yuying Zhao
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  3. Chao Wu
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  4. Wenzhe Xu
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  5. Xiaodong Zhang
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  7. Satheeswaran Thangaraj
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Correspondence to Jun Sun.

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Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 41876134, 41676112, 41276124, 41706184) and the Changjiang Scholar Program of Chinese Ministry of Education of China (No. T2014253) to Jun SUN

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Liu, H., Zhao, Y., Wu, C. et al. The ecological response of natural phytoplankton population and related metabolic rates to future ocean acidification. J. Ocean. Limnol. 40, 999–1011 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-021-1136-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00343-021-1136-4

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