The effects of temperature increases on a temperate phytoplankton community - A mesocosm climate change scenario

Majbritt Kjeldahl Lassen, Kathryn Dewar Nielsen, Katherine Richardson, Kristine Garde, Louise Schlüter

31 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Prior to the spring bloom in 2003 and 2004, batch temperature experiments of approximately 3 weeks' duration were carried out in land-based mesocosms in at the Espeland field station (Norway), with temperatures on average increased ~ 2.7-3 °C (T1) and ~ 5.2-5.6 °C (T2) above in situ fjord temperature (RM). The development in the chlorophyll concentrations showed an earlier bloom as a response to increased temperatures but the carbon biomass showed that the warmest treatment yielded the lowest biomass. This study indicates that a part of the relationship between temperature and spring bloom timing stems from a temperature-induced change in phytoplankton algal physiology (the efficiency of photosystem II, Fv/Fm, and growth rates, μmax), i.e. a direct temperature effect. Data analysis performed on microscope identified and quantified species did not show a significant temperature influence on phytoplankton community composition. However, the HPLC data indicated that temperature changes of as little as 3 °C influence the community composition. In particular, these data showed that peridinin-containing dinoflagellates only increased in abundance in the heated mesocosms and that a prasinophycean bloom, which was undetected in the microscope analyses, occurred prior to the blooms of all other phytoplankton classes in all treatments. The microscope analyses did reveal a temperature effect on individual species distribution patterns. Thalassionema nitzschioides was more abundant in the warm treatments and, in the warmest treatment, the spring bloom forming Skeletonema marinoi comprised a smaller proportion of the diatom community than in the other treatments.

Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology
Volume383
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)79-88
Number of pages10
ISSN0022-0981
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 31 Jan 2010
Externally publishedYes

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