Biogenic habitat shifts under long-term ocean acidification show nonlinear community responses and unbalanced functions of associated invertebrates

Milazzo, Marco; Alessi, Cinzia; Quattrocchi, Federico; Chemello, Renato; D'agostaro, Riccardo; Gil, João; Vaccaro, Antonino; Mirto, Simone; Gristina, Michele; Badalamenti, Fabio

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.391

Cited by 24 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Ecological theory suggests that the successional trajectories of ‘disturbed’ marine subtidal communities will be primarily driven by physical stresses, competition for resources through the mechanisms of ‘facilitation’ and ‘inhibition’ (Connell & Slatyer, 1977) and the strength of associated bottom‐up and top‐down interactions (Gruner et al, 2008; Jenkins et al, 1999). One of the difficulties in predicting how community development will be affected by ocean acidification is that the changes in carbonate chemistry can simultaneously act as both resource and stressor (Connell et al, 2013, 2018; Milazzo et al, 2019). It provides a bottom‐up resource to primary producers by enhancing the availability of bicarbonate and CO 2 (Connell et al, 2013; Koch et al, 2013), but also acts as a physical stressor to many organisms (including calcified primary producers) via negative effects on their physiology (Harvey et al, 2013; Kroeker, Kordas, et al, 2013).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean acidification locks algal communities in a species‐poor early successional stage

Harvey

Kon

Agostini

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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Long‐term exposure to CO2‐enriched waters can considerably alter marine biological community development, often resulting in simplified systems dominated by turf algae that possess reduced biodiversity and low ecological complexity. Current understanding of the underlying processes by which ocean acidification alters biological community development and stability remains limited, making the management of such shifts problematic. Here, we deployed recruitment tiles in reference (pHT 8.137 ± 0.056 SD) and CO2‐enriched conditions (pHT 7.788 ± 0.105 SD) at a volcanic CO2 seep in Japan to assess the underlying processes and patterns of algal community development. We assessed (i) algal community succession in two different seasons (Cooler months: January–July, and warmer months: July–January), (ii) the effects of initial community composition on subsequent community succession (by reciprocally transplanting preestablished communities for a further 6 months), and (iii) the community production of resulting communities, to assess how their functioning was altered (following 12 months recruitment). Settlement tiles became dominated by turf algae under CO2‐enrichment and had lower biomass, diversity and complexity, a pattern consistent across seasons. This locked the community in a species‐poor early successional stage. In terms of community functioning, the elevated pCO2 community had greater net community production, but this did not result in increased algal community cover, biomass, biodiversity or structural complexity. Taken together, this shows that both new and established communities become simplified by rising CO2 levels. Our transplant of preestablished communities from enriched CO2 to reference conditions demonstrated their high resilience, since they became indistinguishable from communities maintained entirely in reference conditions. This shows that meaningful reductions in pCO2 can enable the recovery of algal communities. By understanding the ecological processes responsible for driving shifts in community composition, we can better assess how communities are likely to be altered by ocean acidification.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ocean acidification locks algal communities in a species‐poor early successional stage

Harvey

Kon

Agostini

et al. 2021

Global Change Biology

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“…Seawater acidification poses a threat to marine species and ecosystems, so one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 14 is to 'Minimize and address the impacts of ocean acidification' (United Nations, 2015). Rising CO 2 levels are expected to reduce seascape complexity, alter trophic interactions (Nogueira et al, 2017;Milazzo et al, 2019) and reduce biodiversity (Sunday et al, 2016) causing impacts on a range of ecosystem services (Lemasson et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Elevated trace elements in sediments and seagrasses at CO2 seeps

Mishra

Santos

Spencer

2020

Marine Environmental Research

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Seagrasses often occur around shallow marine CO 2 seeps, allowing assessment of trace metal accumulation. Here, we measured Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn levels at six CO 2 seeps and six reference sites in the Mediterranean. Some seep sediments had elevated metal concentrations; an extreme example was Cd which was 43x more concentrated at a seep site than its corresponding reference site. Three seeps had metal levels that were predicted to adversely affect marine biota, namely Vulcano (for Hg), Ischia (for Cu) and Paleochori (for Cd and Ni). There were higher-than-sediment levels of Zn and Ni in Posidonia oceanica and of Zn in Cymodocea nodosa, particularly in roots. High levels of Cu were found in Ischia seep sediments, yet seagrass was abundant there, and the plants contained low levels of Cu. Differences in bioavailability and toxicity of trace elements helps explain why seagrasses can be abundant at some CO 2 seeps but not at others.

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“…Vermetid reef communities transplanted for one year along CO 2 gradients off Vulcano Island, revealed dominance shifts from reef-to non reef-forming habitats (Milazzo et al 2019). These shifts led to changes in composition, structure and functional diversity of the associated benthic assemblages.…”

Section: Ecosystem Effects Of Oa At Co 2 Seepsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…In some instances, CO 2 seep research has provided evidence of direct physiological impacts on individuals living along CO 2 gradients, causing impaired growth and reproduction, and hence affecting the population level under elevated pCO 2 conditions (Harvey et al 2016). Other experiments document shifts in habitat-forming species and consequent reshuffling of species at community-level or imbalanced function at ecosystem-level (e.g., Vizzini et al 2017;Milazzo et al 2019). Despite the obvious caution needed to avoid confounding factors, Fig.…”

Section: -mentioning

confidence: 99%

Volcanic CO2 seep geochemistry and use in understanding ocean acidification

et al. 2020

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Ocean acidification is one of the most dramatic effects of the massive atmospheric release of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) that has occurred since the Industrial Revolution, although its effects on marine ecosystems are not well understood. Submarine volcanic hydrothermal fields have geochemical conditions that provide opportunities to characterise the effects of elevated levels of seawater CO2 on marine life in the field. Here, we review the geochemical aspects of shallow marine CO2-rich seeps worldwide, focusing on both gas composition and water chemistry. We then describe the geochemical effects of volcanic CO2 seepage on the overlying seawater column. We also present new geochemical data and the first synthesis of marine biological community changes from one of the best-studied marine CO2 seep sites in the world (off Vulcano Island, Sicily). In areas of intense bubbling, extremely high levels of pCO2 (> 10,000 μatm) result in low seawater pH (< 6) and undersaturation of aragonite and calcite in an area devoid of calcified organisms such as shelled molluscs and hard corals. Around 100–400 m away from the Vulcano seeps the geochemistry of the seawater becomes analogous to future ocean acidification conditions with dissolved carbon dioxide levels falling from 900 to 420 μatm as seawater pH rises from 7.6 to 8.0. Calcified species such as coralline algae and sea urchins fare increasingly well as sessile communities shift from domination by a few resilient species (such as uncalcified algae and polychaetes) to a diverse and complex community (including abundant calcified algae and sea urchins) as the seawater returns to ambient levels of CO2. Laboratory advances in our understanding of species sensitivity to high CO2 and low pH seawater, reveal how marine organisms react to simulated ocean acidification conditions (e.g., using energetic trade-offs for calcification, reproduction, growth and survival). Research at volcanic marine seeps, such as those off Vulcano, highlight consistent ecosystem responses to rising levels of seawater CO2, with the simplification of food webs, losses in functional diversity and reduced provisioning of goods and services for humans.

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Biogenic habitat shifts under long-term ocean acidification show nonlinear community responses and unbalanced functions of associated invertebrates

Cited by 24 publications

References 49 publications

Ocean acidification locks algal communities in a species‐poor early successional stage

Ocean acidification locks algal communities in a species‐poor early successional stage

Elevated trace elements in sediments and seagrasses at CO2 seeps

Volcanic CO2 seep geochemistry and use in understanding ocean acidification

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