Elevated ocean temperatures and agrochemical pollution individually threaten inshore coral reefs, but these pressures are likely to occur simultaneously. Experiments were conducted to evaluate the combined effects of elevated temperature and the photosystem II (PSII) inhibiting herbicide diuron on several types of symbiotic algae (diatom, dinoflagellate or rhodophyte) of benthic foraminifera in hospite. Diuron was shown to evoke a direct effect on photosynthetic efficiency (reduced effective PSII quantum yield ΔF/F′m), while elevated temperatures (>30°C, only 2°C above current average summer temperatures) were observed to impact photosynthesis more indirectly by causing reductions in maximum PSII quantum yield (Fv/Fm), interpreted as photodamage. Additionally, elevated temperatures were shown to cause bleaching through loss of chlorophyll a in foraminifera hosting either diatoms or dinoflagellates. A significant linear correlation was found between reduced Fv/Fm and loss of chlorophyll a. In most cases, symbionts within foraminifera proved more sensitive to thermal stress in the presence of diuron (≥1 µg L−1). The mixture toxicity model of Independent Action (IA) described the combined effects of temperature and diuron on the photosystem of species hosting diatoms or dinoflagellates convincingly and in agreement with probabilistic statistics, so a response additive joint action can be assumed. We thus demonstrate that improving water quality can improve resilience of symbiotic phototrophs to projected increases in ocean temperatures. As IA described the observed combined effects from elevated temperature and diuron stress it may therefore be employed for prediction of untested mixtures and for assessing the efficacy of management measures.

There is a shortage of established chronic toxicity test methods for assessing the toxicity of contaminants to tropical marine organisms. The authors tested the suitability of the tropical microalga Isochrysis galbana for use in routine ecotoxicology and assessed the effects of 72-h exposures to copper (Cu, a reference toxicant), aluminium (Al), gallium (Ga), and molybdenum (Mo), key metals of alumina refinery discharge, on the growth of I. galbana at 3 temperatures: 24 °C, 28 °C, and 31 °C. The sensitivity of both I. galbana and the test method was validated by the response to Cu exposure, with 10% and 50% effect concentrations (EC10 and EC50) of 2.5 μg/L and 18 μg/L, respectively. The EC10 and EC50 values for total Al at 28 °C were 640 μg/L and 3045 μg/L, respectively. The toxicity of both Cu and Al at 24 °C and 31 °C was similar to that at 28 °C. There was no measurable toxicity from dissolved Ga exposures of up to 6000 μg/L or exposures to dissolved Mo of up to 9500 μg/L. Solubility limits at 28 °C for the dissolved fractions (<10 kDa) of Al, Ga, and Mo were approximately 650 μg/L Al, >7000 μg/L Ga, and >6000 μg/L Mo. In test solutions containing >650 μg/L total Al, dissolved and precipitated forms of Al were present, with precipitated Al becoming more dominant as total Al increased. The test method proved suitable for routine ecotoxicology, with I. galbana showing sensitivity to Cu but Al, Ga, and Mo exhibiting little to no toxicity to this species.

Assessing the chronic toxicity of nickel to a tropical marine gastropod and Assessing the chronic toxicity of nickel to a tropical marine gastropod and two crustaceans two crustaceans

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