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Toxic algal bloom induced by ocean acidification disrupts the pelagic food web

Nature Climate Change volume 8, pages 1082–1086 (2018)Cite this article

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Abstract

Ocean acidification, the change in seawater carbonate chemistry due to the uptake of anthropogenic CO2, affects the physiology of marine organisms in multiple ways1. Diverse competitive and trophic interactions transform the metabolic responses to changes in community composition, seasonal succession and potentially geographical distribution of species. The health of ocean ecosystems depends on whether basic biotic functions are maintained, ecosystem engineers and keystone species are retained, and the spread of nuisance species is avoided2. Here, we show in a field experiment that the toxic microalga Vicicitus globosus has a selective advantage under ocean acidification, increasing its abundance in natural plankton communities at CO2 levels higher than 600 µatm and developing blooms above 800 µatm CO2. The mass development of V. globosus has had a dramatic impact on the plankton community, preventing the development of the micro- and mesozooplankton communities, thereby disrupting trophic transfer of primary produced organic matter. This has prolonged the residence of particulate matter in the water column and caused a strong decline in export flux. Considering its wide geographical distribution and confirmed role in fish kills3, the proliferation of V. globosus under the IPCC4 CO2 emission representative concentration pathway (RCP4.5 to RCP8.5) scenarios may pose an emergent threat to coastal communities, aquaculture and fisheries.

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Fig. 1: Phytoplankton bloom development and contribution of the HAB species for the individual \({p_{\mathrm{CO_2}}}\) treatments.
Fig. 2: Temporal development of phytoplankton, and micro- and mesozooplankton biomass averaged for three \({p_{{{\rm{CO}}_2}}}\) ranges.
Fig. 3: Temporal development of total particulate carbon (TPC) for the individual \({p_{{{\rm{CO}}_2}}}\) treatments.

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Data availability

The data of this mesocosm study are archived in the World Data Centre MARE/PANGAEA and can be downloaded using the following link: https://www.pangaea.de/?q=campaign%3A%22KOSMOS_2014%22.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands (Plataforma Oceánica de Canarias) for their hospitality and outstanding support and the Marine Science and Technology Park (Parque Científico Tecnológico Marino) for providing access to their facilities. We are grateful to the captains and crews of ESPS RV Hesperides for deploying and recovering the mesocosms (cruise 29HE20140924), and of RV Poseidon for transporting the mesocosms and for their support in testing the deep water collector during cruise POS463. The manuscript greatly benefited from the comments of two anonymous reviewers. This project was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the coordinated project BIOACID—Biological Impacts of Ocean Acidification, phase 2 (FKZ 03F06550). U.R. received additional funding from the Leibniz Prize 2012 by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Kiel, Germany

    Ulf Riebesell, Eric P. Achterberg, Lennart T. Bach, Tim Boxhammer, Mathias Haunost, Andrea Ludwig, Carsten Spisla, Michael Sswat, Paul Stange & Jan Taucher

  2. Trondheim Biological Station, Department of Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

    Nicole Aberle-Malzahn

  3. Alfred-Wegener-Institut Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Biologische Anstalt, Helgoland, Germany

    María Algueró-Muñiz, Santiago Alvarez-Fernandez, Maarten Boersma & Henriette G. Horn

  4. Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain

    Javier Arístegui

  5. Department of Marine Biotechnology, School of Laboratory Medicine and Life Science, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China

    Wanchun Guan

  6. Danish Institute for Advanced Study, Department of Biology, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark

    Carolin R. Löscher

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  1. Ulf Riebesell
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Contributions

Experiment conception and design: U.R., J.T. and L.T.B. Experiment performance: all authors. Data analysis: J.T., L.T.B., T.B., M.A.-M., J.A., W.G., C.R.L., H.G.H. and P.S. Manuscript writing: U.R. with input from all co-authors.

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Correspondence to Ulf Riebesell.

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Riebesell, U., Aberle-Malzahn, N., Achterberg, E.P. et al. Toxic algal bloom induced by ocean acidification disrupts the pelagic food web. Nature Clim Change 8, 1082–1086 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0344-1

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