Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations are causing ocean acidification (OA), altering carbonate chemistry with consequences for marine organisms. Here we show that OA increases by 46–212% the production of phenolic compounds in phytoplankton grown under the elevated CO2 concentrations projected for the end of this century, compared with the ambient CO2 level. At the same time, mitochondrial respiration rate is enhanced under elevated CO2 concentrations by 130–160% in a single species or mixed phytoplankton assemblage. When fed with phytoplankton cells grown under OA, zooplankton assemblages have significantly higher phenolic compound content, by about 28–48%. The functional consequences of the increased accumulation of toxic phenolic compounds in primary and secondary producers have the potential to have profound consequences for marine ecosystem and seafood quality, with the possibility that fishery industries could be influenced as a result of progressive ocean changes.

The physiological performance of a mid-intertidal limpet Cellana toreuma was determined to study the physiological adaptation of intertidal animals to rapid changes and extreme temperatures during emersion. The relationship between the Arrhenius breakpoint temperature (ABT) and in situ operative body temperature was studied to predict the possible impact of climate change on the species. The temperature coefficient (Q10) of emersed animals was higher than that of submersed animals and the ratio of aerial: aquatic heart rate rose with increasing temperature. The ABTs of submersed and emersed animals were 30.2 and 34.2°C, respectively. The heart rate and levels of molecular biomarkers (hsps, ampkα, ampkβ and sirt1 mRNA) were determined in 48 h simulated semi-diurnal tides. There were no obvious changes of heart rate and gene expression during the transition between emersion and submersion at room temperature, although expressions of hsp70 and hsp90 were induced significantly after thermal stress. These results indicate that C. toreuma can effectively utilize atmospheric oxygen, and the higher Q10 and ABT of emersed animals are adaptations to the rapid change and extreme thermal stress during emersion. However, the in situ operative body temperature frequently exceeds the aerial ABT of C. toreuma, indicating the occurrence of large-scale mortality of C. toreuma in summer, and this species should be sensitive to increasing temperature in the scenario of climate change.

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Eutrophic coastal regions are highly productive and greatly influenced by human activities. Primary production supporting the coastal ecosystems is supposed to be affected by progressive ocean acidification driven by increasing CO2 emissions. In order to investigate the effects of high pCO2 (HC) on eutrophic plankton community structure and ecological functions, we employed 9 mesocosms and carried out an experiment under ambient (∼410 ppmv) and future high (1000 ppmv) atmospheric pCO2 conditions, using in situ plankton community in Wuyuan Bay, East China Sea. Our results showed that HC along with natural seawater temperature rise significantly boosted biomass of diatoms with decreased abundance of dinoflagellates in the late stage of the experiment, demonstrating that HC repressed the succession from diatoms to dinoflagellates, a phenomenon observed during algal blooms in the East China Sea. HC did not significantly influence the primary production or biogenic silica contents of the phytoplankton assemblages. However, the HC treatments increased the abundance of viruses and heterotrophic bacteria, reflecting a refueling of nutrients for phytoplankton growth from virus-mediated cell lysis and bacterial degradation of organic matters. Conclusively, our results suggest that increasing CO2 concentrations can modulate plankton structure including the succession of phytoplankton community and the abundance of viruses and bacteria in eutrophic coastal waters, which may lead to altered biogeochemical cycles of carbon and nutrients.