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Effects of High CO2 on Marine Plants

Leander Love-AndereggBio 433

4/8/2013

CO2 = Plant food, right?

CO2

+Light

CO2+

Light

CO2 Fertilization(e.g. Cao & Woodward (1998) Nature)

CO2 Fertilization in the Sea 1) Physiological response:

Riebesell (2004) J. of Oceanography

The physiological flipside

Ocean acidification

Winners and losers,

But effects still uncertain

Rost et al. (2008) Marine Ecol. Prog. Series

2) Ecological effects

CO2 concentration can shift community structure

Direct and indirect effects shift competitive balance of phytoplankton assemblages

Shikano and Kawabato (2000) Hydrobiologia

Riebesell (2004) J. of Oceanography

3) Evolutionary Effects

Phytoplankton phase out use of CCMs over multiple generations (Bell et al. (2008) Evolutionary Applications) Short generation time evolutionary potential

reasonably large

The Forecast?

Overall increase in phytoplankton NPP But not as large as

might predict

Evolutionary responses will likely dampen effects

Phytoplankton community shifts (with possible ecological consequences)

Sources:1. Bell, G. and S. Collins. 2008. Adaptation, extinction and

global change. Evolutionary Applications. 1:3-16.2. Riebesell, U. 2004. Effects of CO(2) enrichment on marine

phytoplankton. Journal of Oceanography. 60:719-729.3. Rost, B., I. Zondervan and D. Wolf-Gladrow. 2008.

Sensitivity of phytoplankton to future changes in ocean carbonate chemistry: current knowledge, contradictions and research directions. Marine Ecology Progress Series. 373:227-237.

4. Shikano, S. and Z. Kawabata. 2000. Effect at the ecosystem level of elevated atmospheric CO2 in an aquatic microcosm. Hydrobiologia. 436:209-216.

5. Wolf-Gladrow, D.A., U. Riebesell, S. Burkhardt and J. Bijma. 1999. Direct effects of CO2 concentration on growth and isotopic composition of marine plankton, pp 461-476.

6. Woodward, F.I. and M.R. Lomas. 2004. Vegetation dynamics - simulating responses to climatic change. Biological Reviews. 79:643-670.Photo credits:

rachelsussman.com, wikipedia.com/phytoplankton, http://www-v1.amnh.org/