Do skeletal Mg/Ca ratios of Arctic rhodoliths reflect atmospheric CO2 concentrations?

Teichert, Sebastian; Voigt, Nora; Wisshak, Max

doi:10.1007/s00300-020-02767-3

Cited by 7 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Among those stressors, like ocean acidification 45 and global warming 46 – 48 , which may impact the rhodolith-bivalve system, are marine MPs. In fact, to date no data on the MP contamination of H. arctica in Arctic rhodolith beds are available.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic contamination of the drilling bivalve Hiatella arctica in Arctic rhodolith beds

Teichert

Löder

Pyko

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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There is an increasing number of studies reporting microplastic (MP) contamination in the Arctic environment. We analysed MP abundance in samples from a marine Arctic ecosystem that has not been investigated in this context and that features a high biodiversity: hollow rhodoliths gouged by the bivalve Hiatella arctica. This bivalve is a filter feeder that potentially accumulates MPs and may therefore reflect MP contamination of the rhodolith ecosystem at northern Svalbard. Our analyses revealed that 100% of the examined specimens were contaminated with MP, ranging between one and 184 MP particles per bivalve in samples from two water depths. Polymer composition and abundance differed strongly between both water depths: samples from 40 m water depth showed a generally higher concentration of MPs and were clearly dominated by polystyrene, samples from 27 m water depth were more balanced in composition, mainly consisting of polyethylene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polypropylene. Long-term consequences of MP contamination in the investigated bivalve species and for the rhodolith bed ecosystem are yet unclear. However, the uptake of MPs may potentially impact H. arctica and consequently its functioning as ecosystem engineers in Arctic rhodolith beds.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microplastic contamination of the drilling bivalve Hiatella arctica in Arctic rhodolith beds

Teichert

Löder

Pyko

et al. 2021

Sci Rep

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“…Studies on the impact of ocean acidification on CCA are numerous and the mostly negative outcome has been clearly documented (Cornwall et al, 2022), being in line with our interpretation of negative effects of anthropogenic climate change in our study. In another analysis of the rhodoliths from Mosselbukta, Teichert, Voigt, et al (2020) Negative effects of experimental ocean acidification on the growth of B. glaciale (Ragazzola et al, 2013) and its interactive effects with warming (e.g., Cornwall et al, 2021) render it likely that ongoing acidification has its share in the impaired CCA growth observed in our study. However, meta-analyses show warming alone to have negative impacts on CCA growth (Cornwall et al, 2019(Cornwall et al, , 2021, rendering it likely that our results are the combined effect of anthropogenic climate change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 56%

In situ decrease in rhodolith growth associated with Arctic climate change

Teichert,

Reddin,

Wisshak

2024

Global Change Biology

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Rhodoliths built by crustose coralline algae (CCA) are ecosystem engineers of global importance. In the Arctic photic zone, their three‐dimensional growth emulates the habitat complexity of coral reefs but with a far slower growth rate, growing at micrometers per year rather than millimeters. While climate change is known to exert various impacts on the CCA's calcite skeleton, including geochemical and structural alterations, field observations of net growth over decade‐long timescales are lacking. Here, we use a temporally explicit model to show that rising ocean temperatures over nearly 100 years were associated with reduced rhodolith growth at different depths in the Arctic. Over the past 90 years, the median growth rate was 85 μm year−1 but each °C increase in summer seawater temperature decreased growth by a mean of 8.9 μm (95% confidence intervals = 1.32–16.60 μm °C−1, p < .05). The decrease was expressed for rhodolith occurrences in 11 and 27 m water depth but not at 46 m, also having the shortest time series (1991–2015). Although increasing temperatures can spur plant growth, we suggest anthropogenic climate change has either exceeded the population thermal optimum for these CCA, or synergistic effects of warming, ocean acidification, and/or increasing turbidity impair rhodolith growth. Rhodoliths built by calcitic CCA are important habitat providers worldwide, so decreased growth would lead to yet another facet of anthropogenic habitat loss.

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“…In Mosselbukta, they have already seen an alarming decline of sea‐ice cover (Hetzinger et al, 2019) along with a marked increase in glacier‐derived runoff (Hetzinger et al, 2021) that increases turbidity. Moreover, future ocean acidification is expected to compromise growth rates and structural integrity of the ecosystem engineer Lithothamnion glaciale (Büdenbender et al, 2011; Ragazzola et al, 2012, 2016; Teichert et al, 2020) and adds to an increase in other human disturbances, such as bottom trawling (Fragkopoulou et al, 2021) and adverse effects of the influx of microplastics into polar waters (Teichert et al, 2021). The combination of all the above underline the reasoning put forth by Wisshak (2006) and indeed indicate a relatively low preservation potential for polar cold‐water carbonates, such as those formed in the carbonate factory of the Mosselbukta rhodolith beds.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Ten Years After’—a long‐term settlement and bioerosion experiment in an Arctic rhodolith bed (Mosselbukta, Svalbard)

et al. 2021

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Rhodolith beds and bioherms formed by ecosystem engineering crustose coralline algae support the northernmost centres of carbonate production, referred to as polar cold‐water carbonate factories. Yet, little is known about biodiversity and recruitment of these hard‐bottom communities or the bioeroders degrading them, and there is a demand for carbonate budgets to include respective rates of polar carbonate build‐up and bioerosion. To address these issues, a 10‐year settlement and bioerosion experiment was carried out at the Arctic Svalbard archipelago in and downslope of a rhodolith bed. The calcifiers recorded on experimental settlement tiles (56 taxa) were dominated by bryozoans, serpulids and foraminiferans. The majority of the bioerosion traces (30 ichnotaxa) were microborings, followed by attachment etchings and grazing traces. Biodiversity metrics show that calcifier diversity and bioerosion ichnodiversity are both elevated in the rhodolith bed, if compared to adjacent aphotic waters, but these differences are statistically insignificant. Accordingly, there were only low to moderate dissimilarities in the calcifier community structure and bioerosion trace assemblages between the two depth stations (46 and 127 m), substrate orientations (up‐ and down‐facing) and substrate types (PVC and limestone), in that order of relevance. In contrast, surface coverage as well as the carbonate accretion and bioerosion rates were all significantly elevated in the rhodolith bed, reflecting higher abundance or size of calcifiers and bioerosion traces. All three measures were highest for up‐facing substrates at 46 m, with a mean coverage of 78.2% (on PVC substrates), a mean accretion rate of 24.6 g m−2 year−1 (PVC), and a mean bioerosion rate of −35.1 g m−2 year−1 (limestone). Differences in these metrics depend on the same order of factors than the community structure. Considering all limestone substrates of the two platforms, carbonate accretion and bioerosion were nearly in balance at a net rate of −2.5 g m−2 year−1. A latitudinal comparison with previous settlement studies in the North Atlantic suggests that despite the harsh polar environment there is neither a depletion in the diversity of hard‐bottom calcifier communities nor in the ichnodiversity of grazing traces, attachment etchings and microborings formed by organotrophs. In contrast, microborings produced by phototrophs are strongly depleted because of limitations in the availability of light (condensed photic zonation, polar night, shading by sea ice). Also, macroborings were almost absent, surprisingly. With respect to carbonate production, the Svalbard carbonate factory marks the low end of a latitudinal gradient while bioerosion rates are similar or even higher than at comparable depth or photic regime at lower latitudes, although this might not apply to shallow euphotic waters (not covered in our experiment), given the observed depletion in bioeroding microphytes and macroborers. While echinoid grazing is particularly relevant for the bioerosion in ...

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Do skeletal Mg/Ca ratios of Arctic rhodoliths reflect atmospheric CO2 concentrations?

Cited by 7 publications

References 36 publications

Microplastic contamination of the drilling bivalve Hiatella arctica in Arctic rhodolith beds

Microplastic contamination of the drilling bivalve Hiatella arctica in Arctic rhodolith beds

In situ decrease in rhodolith growth associated with Arctic climate change

‘Ten Years After’—a long‐term settlement and bioerosion experiment in an Arctic rhodolith bed (Mosselbukta, Svalbard)

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