Elevated pCO₂ is less detrimental than increased temperature to early development of the giant kelp, Macrocystis pyrifera (Phaeophyceae, Laminariales)

Abstract:

Global climate change is increasing ocean temperature and partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂) in coastal and marine ecosystems. Research in this field has largely focused on how limited CO₃²⁻ availability and low pH adversely affect early development of calcifying organisms, but noncalcareous organisms are comparatively understudied despite their prevalence in many coastal communities. We investigated how present-day and future levels of ocean temperature (12°C vs 15°C, respectively) and pCO₂ (400 μatm vs 1500 μatm, respectively) influence successful germling production, gametophyte survival, growth, and sex ratio, and embryonic sporophyte production and growth in the habitat-forming kelp Macrocystis pyrifera over a 15-wk period in San Diego, California, USA. Our results indicate that relative to present-day conditions, successful germling production was reduced fourfold under elevated temperature alone, and fivefold under combined elevated temperature and pCO₂ (i.e. “future conditions”). Similarly, survival and growth of male and female gametophytes were lower under elevated temperature alone than under either present-day, elevated pCO₂ alone, or future conditions. Gametophyte sex ratios skewed slightly toward males across all treatments. Sporophyte recruitment and growth were greatest and occurred earliest under elevated pCO₂ alone, but were delayed under elevated temperature alone. Although elevated pCO₂ and temperature adversely affected germling production independently and cumulatively, elevated pCO₂ enhanced gametophyte and sporophyte survival under both present-day and elevated temperatures. Thus, under projected climate change conditions, elevated pCO₂ may be less detrimental than increased temperature for development beyond germling production. Given that M. pyrifera is globally distributed and provides numerous ecosystem services including the potential to mitigate ocean acidification, impacts of climate change on its complex life history merit further exploration.

Key words::

• Carbon dioxide
• Climate change
• Gametophyte
• Germling
• Global warming
• Kelp forest
• Marine habitat
• Ocean acidification
• Sex ratio
• Sporophyte

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

We thank C. Gramlich, A. Warneke, and B. McCollum for their assistance with sample collections. We thank SDSU, the Coastal and Marine Institute Laboratory, and Scripps Institution of Oceanography for their support. Research was conducted under permits courtesy of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (SC-12661, SC-751). This research was supported by SDSU Grants, a California State University Council on Ocean Affairs, Science and Technology Graduate Student Research Award, and Harold and June Grant Memorial Scholarships. This is contribution no. 53 to the Coastal and Marine Institute Laboratory, SDSU.