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Combined effects of CO2 level, light intensity, and nutrient availability on the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi

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Abstract

Continuous accumulation of fossil CO2 in the atmosphere and increasingly dissolved CO2 in seawater leads to ocean acidification (OA), which is known to affect phytoplankton physiology directly and/or indirectly. Since increasing attention has been paid to the effects of OA under the influences of multiple drivers, in this study, we investigated effects of elevated CO2 concentration under different levels of light and nutrients on growth rate, particulate organic (POC) and inorganic (PIC) carbon quotas of the coccolithophorid Emiliania huxleyi. We found that OA treatment (pH 7.84, CO2 = 920 μatm) reduced the maximum growth rate at all levels of the nutrients tested, and exacerbated photo-inhibition of growth rate under reduced availability of phosphate (from 10.5 to 0.4 μmol l−1). Low nutrient levels, especially lower nitrate concentration (8.8 μmol l−1 compared with 101 μmol l−1), decreased maximum growth rates. Nevertheless, the reduced levels of nutrients increased the maximum PIC production rate. Decreased availability of nutrients influenced growth, POC and PIC quotas more than changes in CO2 concentrations. Our results suggest that reduced nutrient availability due to reduced upward advective supply because of ocean warming may partially counteract the negative effects of OA on calcification of the coccolithophorid.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation (41720104005, 41721005, 41806129), and Joint project of National Natural Science Foundation of China and Shandong province (No. U1606404), China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2017M612129), and the outstanding postdoctoral program of State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science (Xiamen University). FF and DH’s visits to Xiamen were supported by MEL’s visiting scientist program, and their contributions were supported by U.S. National Science Foundation grants OCE 1538525 and 1638804.

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  1. State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science & College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, People’s Republic of China

    Yong Zhang & Kunshan Gao

  2. Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Marine Bioresources and Environment, Jiangsu Ocean University, Lianyungang, 222005, People’s Republic of China

    Kunshan Gao

  3. Laboratory for Marine Ecology and Environmental Science, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266071, People’s Republic of China

    Kunshan Gao

  4. Department of Biological Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, 90089, USA

    Feixue Fu & David A. Hutchins

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  1. Yong Zhang
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Zhang, Y., Fu, F., Hutchins, D.A. et al. Combined effects of CO2 level, light intensity, and nutrient availability on the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi. Hydrobiologia 842, 127–141 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-019-04031-0

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