Species-specific consequences of ocean acidification for the calcareous tropical green algae Halimeda

MEPS Marine Ecology Progress Series Contact the journal Facebook Twitter RSS Mailing List Subscribe to our mailing list via Mailchimp HomeLatest VolumeAbout the JournalEditorsTheme Sections MEPS 440:67-78 (2011) - DOI: https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09309 Species-specific consequences of ocean acidification for the calcareous tropical green algae Halimeda Nichole N. Price1,*, Scott L. Hamilton2, 3, Jesse S. Tootell2, Jennifer E. Smith1 1Center for Marine Biodiversity and Conservation, Marine Biology Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, California 92093-0202, USA 2 Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology Department, University of California, Santa Barbara, California 93106, USA 3Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, 8272 Moss Landing Rd., Moss Landing, California 95039, USA *Email: nprice@ucsd.edu ABSTRACT: Ocean acidification (OA), resulting from increasing dissolved carbon dioxide (CO2) in surface waters, is likely to affect many marine organisms, particularly those that calcify. Recent OA studies have demonstrated negative and/or differential effects of reduced pH on growth, development, calcification and physiology, but most of these have focused on taxa other than calcareous benthic macroalgae. Here we investigate the potential effects of OA on one of the most common coral reef macroalgal genera, Halimeda. Species of Halimeda produce a large proportion of the sand in the tropics and are a major contributor to framework development on reefs because of their rapid calcium carbonate production and high turnover rates. On Palmyra Atoll in the central Pacific, we conducted a manipulative bubbling experiment to investigate the potential effects of OA on growth, calcification and photophysiology of 2 species of Halimeda. Our results suggest that Halimeda is highly susceptible to reduced pH and aragonite saturation state but the magnitude of these effects is species specific. H. opuntia suffered net dissolution and 15% reduction in photosynthetic capacity, while H. taenicola did not calcify but did not alter photophysiology in experimental treatments. The disparate responses of these species to elevated CO2 partial ­pressure (pCO2) may be due to anatomical and physiological differences and could represent a shift in their relative dominance in the face of OA. The ability for a species to exert biological control over calcification and the species specific role of the carbonate skeleton may have important implications for the potential effects of OA on ecological function in the future. KEY WORDS: Carbon dioxide · pH · Coral reef · Climate change · Benthic algae · Carbonate chemistry Full text in pdf format PreviousNextCite this article as: Price NN, Hamilton SL, Tootell JS, Smith JE (2011) Species-specific consequences of ocean acidification for the calcareous tropical green algae Halimeda. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 440:67-78. https://doi.org/10.3354/meps09309 Export citation RSS - Facebook - Tweet - linkedIn Cited by Published in MEPS Vol. 440. Online publication date: October 28, 2011 Print ISSN: 0171-8630; Online ISSN: 1616-1599 Copyright © 2011 Inter-Research.