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Environmental variability drives rapid and dramatic changes in nutrient limitation of tropical macroalgae with different ecological strategies

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) limits primary productivity in nearly every ecosystem worldwide, yet how limitation changes over time, particularly in connection to variation in environmental drivers, remains understudied. We evaluated temporal and species-specific variability in the relative importance of N and P limitation among tropical macroalgae in two-factor experiments conducted twice after rains and twice after dry conditions to explore potential linkages to environmental drivers. We studied three common macroalgal species with varying ecological strategies: a fast-growing opportunist, Dictyota bartayresiana; and two calcifying species likely to be slower growing, Galaxaura fasciculata and Padina boryana. On the scale of days to weeks, nutrient responses ranged among and within species from no limitation to increases in growth by 20 and 40 % over controls in 3 d with N and P addition, respectively. After light rain or dry conditions, Dictyota grew rapidly (up to ~60 % in 3 d) with little indication of nutrient limitation, while Padina and Galaxaura shifted between N, P, or no limitation. All species grew slowly or lost mass after a large storm, presumably due to unfavorable conditions on the reef prior to the experiment that limited nutrient uptake. Padina and Galaxaura both became nutrient limited 3 d post-storm, while Dictyota did not. These results suggest that differing capabilities for nutrient uptake and storage dictate the influence of nutrient history and thus drive nutrient responses and, in doing so, may allow species with differing ecological strategies to coexist in a fluctuating environment. Moreover, the great variability in species’ responses indicates that patterns of nutrient limitation are more complex than previously recognized, and generalizations about N versus P limitation of a given system may not convey the inherent complexity in governing conditions and processes.

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Acknowledgments

We are thankful to Gump Research Station for the facilities and to the Center for Oceanic Science Education Excellence West for funding and support. Research was funded in part by the UCLA Office of Instructional Development and the UCLA Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. Data on rainfall and irradiance were provided by the Mo’orea Coral Reef Ecosystem LTER, funded by the US National Science Foundation (OCE-0417412). This is contribution #217 of the of the University of California Berkeley’s Gump South Pacific Research Station.

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  1. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California Los Angeles, 621 Charles E. Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA, 90095-1606, USA

    Rachel J. Clausing & Peggy Fong

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  1. Rachel J. Clausing
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Correspondence to Rachel J. Clausing.

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Communicated by Biology Editor Dr. Line K. Bay

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Clausing, R.J., Fong, P. Environmental variability drives rapid and dramatic changes in nutrient limitation of tropical macroalgae with different ecological strategies. Coral Reefs 35, 669–680 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00338-016-1403-6

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