Most marine organisms present an indirect lifecycle where a planktonic larval stage reaches competency before settling to the substrate and metamorphosing. Despite the critical importance of these early life history stages, little is known about how global change-related stressors, in particular ocean acidification (OA), affect marine larval settlement and metamorphosis. To date, 48 studies have investigated the effects of OA on larval settlement, focussing mostly on tropical corals (16), echinoderms (11) and fish (8). Most studies show negative effects of OA during settlement and post-settlement processes. For instance, reduced settlement is typically seen along natural pH gradients and in experimentally lowered pH treatments. This generally results in reduced settlement selectivity and metamorphosis and poorer post-settlement fitness. Carryover effects of OA exposure can also occur, with larval environmental history influencing early post-settlement performance. We conclude that OA may (1) alter larval supply for settlement by altering horizontal swimming behaviour or vertical migration; (2) directly influence settlement success through changes in the nature and distribution of suitable settlement substrates (e.g. biofilm, crustose coralline algae); and (3) mediate carryover effects at settlement by altering larval development or larval energy budgets. In contrast to fish larvae, there is little evidence for most invertebrate larvae that their perception of settlement cues is directly influenced by reduced pH. A summation of how OA affects the settlement and metamorphosis of marine invertebrates is timely, since altered settlement rates will influence the future distributions, abundances and ecology of marine benthic communities.

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Systems with strong horizontal and vertical gradients, such as fjords, are useful models for studying environmental forcing. Here we examine microbial (prokaryotic and eukaryotic) community changes associated with the surface low salinity layer (LSL) and underlying seawater in multiple fjords in Fiordland National Park (New Zealand). High rainfall (1200-8000 mm annually) and linked runoff from native forested catchments results in surface LSLs with high tannin concentrations within each fjord. These gradients are expected to drive changes in microbial communities. We used amplicon sequencing (16S and 18S) to assess the impact of these gradients on microbial communities and identified depth linked changes in diversity and community structure. With increasing depth we observed significant increases in Proteobacteria (15%) and SAR (37%), decreases in Opisthokonta (35%), and transiently increased Bacteroidetes (3% increase from 0 to 40 m, decreasing by 8% at 200 m). Community structure differences were observed along a transect from inner to outer regions, specifically 25% mean relative abundance decreases in Opisthokonta and Bacteroidetes, and increases in SAR (25%) and Proteobacteria (>5%) at the surface, indicating changes based on distance from the ocean. This provides the first in-depth view into the ecological drivers of microbial communities within New Zealand fjords..

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