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Effects of elevated pCO2 on the photosynthetic performance of the sea ice diatoms Navicula directa and Navicula glaciei

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Abstract

Sea ice algal communities are generally dominated by pennate diatoms, which commonly occur at the ice-water interface and in brine channels. They also make a significant contribution to higher trophic levels associated with sea ice habitats. Here, the photosynthetic responses of two sea ice diatom species, Navicula directa and Navicula glaciei, to changes in pCO2 under controlled laboratory conditions were compared. pCO2 (390 ppm and 750 ppm) was manipulated to simulate a shift from present levels (1990) to predicted “IPCC year 2100 worst-case scenario” levels. To investigate these effects, a pulse-amplitude modulation (PAM) fluorometer was used to measure the photosynthetic performance. The ability of the sea ice algae to grow and photosynthesize within physio-chemical gradients in the sea ice suggests that both sea ice species are likely to be well adapted to cope with changes in pCO2 concentrations. Lower pH and higher pCO2 for 7 days resulted in increased biomass, especially for N. directa. However, a decline in photosynthetic capacity (rETRmax) was observed for both species (highest value 11.375 ± 0.163, control; and 8.322 ± 1.282, treatment). Navicula glaciei showed significant effects of elevated pCO2 (p < 0.05) on its photosynthetic response, while N. directa did not. Future changes in CO2 and pH may thus not significantly affect all diatoms but may lead to changes in the photosynthetic activities in some species.

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Data availability

The data obtained in this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, for providing the cultures and lab facilities. We are grateful to the following people for their assistance and support in this study: Sarah Ugalde, Lee Shi Hong and Aysha Javeed. The two anonymous reviewers are acknowledged for their constructive comments on the earlier version of this manuscript.

Funding

This research was supported by Yayasan Penyelidikan Sultan Mizan (YPASM) Fellowship Program, MOSTI Flagship Grant (304/CDASAR/650724/P131), and USM Research Grant (1001/PBIOLOGI/8011062 and 1001/CDASAR/8011046).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Policy Research and International Studies (CenPRIS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

    Sazlina Salleh & Nur Ain Amani Abdul Mubin

  2. Centre for Marine and Coastal Studies (CEMACS), Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

    Sazlina Salleh, Nur Aqilah Muhamad Darif & Mahadi Mohammad

  3. School of Biological Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, Minden, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

    Mahadi Mohammad

  4. Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), University of Tasmania, Private Bag 129, Hobart, TAS, 7001, Australia

    Andrew McMinn

  5. College of Marine Life Science, Ocean University of China, Yushan Road 5, Qingdao, 266003, China

    Andrew McMinn

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  1. Sazlina Salleh
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SS, AM, and NAMD designed the study and conducted laboratory work, data analysis, and manuscript writing. NAAAM and MM contributed to the data analysis, funding, and writing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sazlina Salleh.

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Salleh, S., Abdul Mubin, N.A.A., Darif, N.A.M. et al. Effects of elevated pCO2 on the photosynthetic performance of the sea ice diatoms Navicula directa and Navicula glaciei. J Appl Phycol 34, 1447–1456 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-022-02709-y

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