Ocean acidification-induced food quality deterioration constrains trophic transfer

• Published in: PloS one 2012-04, Vol.7 (4), p.e34737-e34737
• Main Authors: Rossoll, Dennis, Bermúdez, Rafael, Hauss, Helena, Schulz, Kai G, Riebesell, Ulf, Sommer, Ulrich, Winder, Monika
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acartia tonsa; Acidification; Algae; Animal reproduction; Animals; Bacillariophyta; Biology; Bosmina longirostris; Calcification; Carbon dioxide; Carbon Dioxide - chemistry; Carbon Dioxide - physiology; Carbon dioxide atmospheric concentrations; Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere; Chemistry; Climate change; Clupea harengus; Copepoda - growth & development; Copepods; Cyanobacteria - chemistry; Cyanobacteria - physiology; Daphnia pulex; Diatoms - chemistry; Diatoms - physiology; Ecosystems; Emiliania huxleyi; Experiments; Fatty acids; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Fatty Acids - metabolism; Fatty Acids - physiology; Fish; Fisheries; Food Chain; Food chains; Food quality; Marine ecology; Medicine; Ocean acidification; Oceans; Oceans and Seas; Phytoplankton - chemistry; Phytoplankton - physiology; Plankton; Prymnesiophyceae; Rhodomonas; Seawater; Studies; Success; Thalassiosira pseudonana; Thalassiosira rotula
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034737

Our present understanding of ocean acidification (OA) impacts on marine organisms caused by rapidly rising atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO(2)) concentration is almost entirely limited to single species responses. OA consequences for food web interactions are, however, still unknown. Indirect OA effects can be expected for consumers by changing the nutritional quality of their prey. We used a laboratory experiment to test potential OA effects on algal fatty acid (FA) composition and resulting copepod growth. We show that elevated CO(2) significantly changed the FA concentration and composition of the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, which constrained growth and reproduction of the copepod Acartia tonsa. A significant decline in both total FAs (28.1 to 17.4 fg cell(-1)) and the ratio of long-chain polyunsaturated to saturated fatty acids (PUFA:SFA) of food algae cultured under elevated (750 µatm) compared to present day (380 µatm) pCO(2) was directly translated to copepods. The proportion of total essential FAs declined almost tenfold in copepods and the contribution of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) tripled at high CO(2). This rapid and reversible CO(2)-dependent shift in FA concentration and composition caused a decrease in both copepod somatic growth and egg production from 34 to 5 eggs female(-1) day(-1). Because the diatom-copepod link supports some of the most productive ecosystems in the world, our study demonstrates that OA can have far-reaching consequences for ocean food webs by changing the nutritional quality of essential macromolecules in primary producers that cascade up the food web.