The mass extinction of life 66 million years ago at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary, marked by the extinctions of dinosaurs and shallow marine organisms, is important because it led to the macroevolution of mammals and appearance of humans. The current hypothesis for the extinction is that an asteroid impact in present-day Mexico formed condensed aerosols in the stratosphere, which caused the cessation of photosynthesis and global near-freezing conditions. Here, we show that the stratospheric aerosols did not induce darkness that resulted in milder cooling than previously thought. We propose a new hypothesis that latitude-dependent climate changes caused by massive stratospheric soot explain the known mortality and survival on land and in oceans at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. The stratospheric soot was ejected from the oil-rich area by the asteroid impact and was spread globally. The soot aerosols caused sufficiently colder climates at mid–high latitudes and drought with milder cooling at low latitudes on land, in addition to causing limited cessation of photosynthesis in global oceans within a few months to two years after the impact, followed by surface-water cooling in global oceans in a few years. The rapid climate change induced terrestrial extinctions followed by marine extinctions over several years.

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To estimate the combined effects of elevated CO2 and temperature on microalgae, three typical and worldwide freshwater species, the green alga Scenedesmus acuminatus, the diatom Cyclotella meneghiniana, and the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa, as well as mixes of these three species were continuously cultured in controlled environment chambers with CO2 at 390 and 1000 ppm and temperatures of 20, 25, and 30 °C. CO2 and temperature significantly affected the production of microalgae. The cell productivity increased under elevated CO2 and temperature. Although the green alga dominated in the mixed culture within all CO2 and temperature conditions, rising temperature and CO2 intensified the competition of the cyanobacterium with other microalgae. CO2 affected the extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) characteristics of the green alga and the cyanobacterium. Elevated CO2 induced the generation of humic substances in the EPS fractions of the green alga, the cyanobacterium, and the mixed culture. The extracellular carbohydrates of the diatom and the extracellular proteins of the cyanobacterium increased with elevated CO2 and temperature, while the extracellular carbohydrates and proteins of the green alga and the mixes increased under elevated CO2 and temperature. There were synergistic effects of CO2 and temperature on the productivity and the EPS of microalgae. Climate change related CO2 and temperature increases will promote autochthonous organic carbon production in aquatic ecosystems and facilitate the proliferation of cyanobacteria, which potentially changes the carbon cycling and undermines the functioning of ecosystems.

Fractionation of stable carbon (C) isotopes in the essential fatty acids 18:2n-6, 18:3n-3, 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3 was investigated in the zebrafish Danio rerio and the mud snail Bellamya chinensis fed the same two diets. These diets differed in essential fatty acid compositions: (1) TetraMin contained all five fatty acids, and (2) Chlorella contained only two, 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3. On average, the isotopic fractionation was -0.5 ± 0.9 ‰ for 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3 for all experiments, indicating that the fractionation of these essential fatty acids was negligible. However, the isotopic fractionation of 20:4n-6, 20:5n-3, and 22:6n-3 varied greatly between species and between diets. The isotopic fractionation of the Chlorella diet was -0.2 and -6.9 ‰ for zebrafish and mud snail, but 4.2 and -1.3 ‰, respectively, when these consumers were fed TetraMin. This variation could be explained by the different amount of assimilation and the biosynthesis of these fatty acids from their precursors (i.e., 18:2n-6 and 18:3n-3). These results indicate that the isotopic composition of C20 and C22 essential fatty acids was strongly influenced by the fatty acid composition in the diets. Thus the stable C isotope ratios of C18 essential fatty acids in consumers are more useful as dietary tracers in food web studies.

Summary We investigated how profundal redox conditions determine the inter‐annual variation in methane oxidising bacteria (MOB) contribution to zooplankton production in a deep subtropical reservoir. Two hydrological regimes which affect MOB activity are considered: (i) reduced MOB activity resulting from high profundal oxygen saturation promoted by water column disturbance during the period of summer stratification; and (ii) increased MOB activity due to high profundal oxygen saturation during winter mixing. Four years of field stable‐isotope analyses revealed that oxygen saturation of profundal waters during summer stratification was negatively correlated with winter MOB contribution. This relationship is consistent with our theoretical ecosystem modelling. Although the ecosystem model simulation predicted positive effects of profundal oxygen supply during winter mixing on MOB contribution, the stable isotope mixing model indicated that the effects were secondary. Winter oxygen supply did not enhance MOB activity when methane accumulation during the preceding summer was low. Our findings suggest that summer profundal hypoxia plays the primary role in determining methanotrophic food‐web activity and methane‐derived carbon cycling in deep lakes.