Effects of warming on a Mediterranean phytoplankton community
Predicting the responses of organisms is a complex challenge especially when water temperature is expected to increase over the coming decades, as a result of global warming. In this work the effects of warming on phytoplankton communities were investigated. An indoor experiment was performed, where...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2016-04-01
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| Series: | Web Ecology |
| Online Access: | http://www.web-ecol.net/16/89/2016/we-16-89-2016.pdf |
| Summary: | Predicting the responses of organisms is a complex challenge especially when
water temperature is expected to increase over the coming decades, as a
result of global warming. In this work the effects of warming on
phytoplankton communities were investigated. An indoor experiment was
performed, where water from a Mediterranean lagoon was incubated at
different temperatures. Three treatments were applied in triplicate
incubation units: the control (11 °C), 3 °C increase
(14 °C), and 6 °C increase (17 °C). Our results
showed significant effects by warming on phytoplankton. The abundance of
relatively smaller taxa (<i>Chlorella</i> sp. and <i>Planktothrix agardhii–rubescens</i> group) increased at 17 °C,
whereas the abundance of relatively larger species (<i>Cyclotella</i> sp. and <i>Thalassiosira</i>
sp.)
decreased, compared with the control. This shift towards smaller taxa
resulted in a higher total biomass but lower chlorophyll <i>a</i> concentrations at
the highest temperature. |
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| ISSN: | 2193-3081 1399-1183 |