Phytoplankton shading of marine benthic macrophytes: Implications for intertidal community structure

Previous observations of light levels and phytoplankton abundances along the Oregon coast demonstrated that phytoplankton attenuated light sufficiently to potentially limit the growth of intertidal macrophytes and therefore structure local intertidal communities. Inspired by this observation, in spring 2004, I initiated a study to quantify the direct and indirect benthic community response to different light regimes. Frames supporting plastic mesh were installed to shade macroalgae in the Hedophyllum zone. With unshaded treatments, the shade treatment manipulated the light levels available to benthic algal species at two sites differing in historic pelagic productivity. Treatments included shaded, unshaded, and manipulation control plots that were 0.25 m2 in area. The experiment began in mid June and ran through the end of August, 2004. The direct response variables were the growth rate and abundance accumulation of the perennial intertidal kelp Hedophyllum sessile. The indirect responses measured were the changes in abundance of understory red algae. Results indicated that shade decreased growth rates of Hedophyllum and that the extent of growth rate reduction varied between sites. The response of total cover of understory algae was not strongly different between treatments and the response of individual algal groups differed between treatments and between sites. At Fogarty Creek, an area of historically high macroalgal abundance and comparatively low phytoplankton abundance, the primary response to increased shade was an increase in foliose red algae. At Strawberry Hill, an area of lower macroalgal abundance, the primary response was an increase in dominance of coralline algae. The response of algal diversity to different canopy treatments also differed between sites. Diversity of understory algae was highest beneath the artificial shades at Fogarty Creek whereas at Strawberry Hill, the diversity was the highest beneath intact canopy. The difference in responses of the understory assemblage at the two sites was interpreted to signify potential differences in the ecological role of the canopy. At Fogarty Creek, the canopy appears to reduce algal abundance and diversity, presumably through competitive inhibition, whereas at Strawberry Hill the canopy appears to facilitate increased algal abundance and diversity, presumably through habitat amelioration. While underscoring the need to include parameters of environmental stress when modeling changes in total production, these results are consistent with estuarine studies that demonstrate that as nutrient loading increases, the community shifts from a mixed autotroph assemblage to one dominated by phytoplankton. Thus in open coast systems where annual benthic production can exceed the pelagic production by a factor of 5-10, increased nutrients may also shift these systems towards greater dominance by phytoplankton and reduced macrophytes. As perennial macrophytes such as kelp and sea grasses are also extraordinarily important habitat modifiers and provide nursery habitat for several species of fish and invertebrates, large-scale reduction of macrophytes could also lead to profound modifications of coastal ecosystem dynamics.Keywords: community production, light limitation, kelp canopy understory dynamics, autoecology, marine ecology, Hedophyllum sessil

Implications of future northwest Atlantic bottom temperatures on the American lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 122 (2017): 9387–9398, doi:10.1002/2017JC012949.Sea surface temperatures of the northwest Atlantic have warmed dramatically over the last several decades, while benthic temperatures have increased at a slower pace. Here we analyze a subset of the CMIP5 global Earth system model ensemble using a statistical downscaling approach to determine potential future changes in benthic temperatures on the northwest Atlantic continental shelf and slope (<500 m). We put future changes in the context of possible impacts of ocean warming on the high-value, wild-caught American Lobster (Homarus americanus) fishery. Future bottom temperatures of the northwest Atlantic under a business-as-usual (RCP8.5) and a climate-policy (RCP4.5) scenario are projected to increase by 0–1.5°C and 1.2–2.4°C by 2050 and 0–1.9°C and 2.3–4.3°C by the end of the century for RCP4.5 and RCP8.5, respectively. H. americanus experiences thermal stress at temperatures above 20°C, and projected increases in temperature is likely to result in changes in the distribution of optimal thermal egg hatching and settlement indicators. Inshore regions of southern New England, where H. americanus biomass and catch have been declining historically, will likely become inhospitable under either future scenario, while thermal egg hatching and settlement indicators will expand offshore and in the Gulf of Maine. These changes imply that members of the fishery based in southern New England may need to recapitalize to larger vessels to prepare for potential changes brought on by future climate warming. Results from the downscaling presented here can be useful in preparing for potential changes to other fisheries or in future climate vulnerability analyses.John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant Number: 14-106159-000-CFP; NASA Grant Number: NNX14AP62A; “National Marine Sanctuaries as Sentinel Sites for a Demonstration Marine Biodiversity Observation Network (MBON)”; National Ocean Partnership Program Grant Number: NOPP RFP NOAA-NOS IOOS-2014-2003803; NOAA Integrated Ocean Observing System (IOOS) Program Offic

Variability in the mechanisms controlling Southern Ocean phytoplankton bloom phenology in an ocean model and satellite observations

Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2017. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Global Biogeochemical Cycles 31 (2017): 922–940, doi:10.1002/2016GB005615.A coupled global numerical simulation (conducted with the Community Earth System Model) is used in conjunction with satellite remote sensing observations to examine the role of top-down (grazing pressure) and bottom-up (light, nutrients) controls on marine phytoplankton bloom dynamics in the Southern Ocean. Phytoplankton seasonal phenology is evaluated in the context of the recently proposed “disturbance-recovery” hypothesis relative to more traditional, exclusively “bottom-up” frameworks. All blooms occur when phytoplankton division rates exceed loss rates to permit sustained net population growth; however, the nature of this decoupling period varies regionally in Community Earth System Model. Regional case studies illustrate how unique pathways allow blooms to emerge despite very poor division rates or very strong grazing rates. In the Subantarctic, southeast Pacific small spring blooms initiate early cooccurring with deep mixing and low division rates, consistent with the disturbance-recovery hypothesis. Similar systematics are present in the Subantarctic, southwest Atlantic during the spring but are eclipsed by a subsequent, larger summer bloom that is coincident with shallow mixing and the annual maximum in division rates, consistent with a bottom-up, light limited framework. In the model simulation, increased iron stress prevents a similar summer bloom in the southeast Pacific. In the simulated Antarctic zone (70°S–65°S) seasonal sea ice acts as a dominant phytoplankton-zooplankton decoupling agent, triggering a delayed but substantial bloom as ice recedes. Satellite ocean color remote sensing and ocean physical reanalysis products do not precisely match model-predicted phenology, but observed patterns do indicate regional variability in mechanism across the Atlantic and Pacific.NDSEG Graduate Fellowship; National Aeronautics and Space Administration Ocean Biology and Biogeochemistry Program Grant Number: NNX14L86G; NSF Poloar Programs Award Grant Number: 1440435; National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant Number: NNX14AL86G; NDSEG; National Science Foundation Grant Number: 14404352017-11-3

Thirty-three years of ocean benthic warming along the U.S. Northeast Continental Shelf and Slope : patterns, drivers, and ecological consequences

© The Author(s), 2017. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Oceans 122 (2017): 9399–9414, doi:10.1002/2017JC012953.The U.S. Northeast Continental Shelf is experiencing rapid warming, with potentially profound consequences to marine ecosystems. While satellites document multiple scales of spatial and temporal variability on the surface, our understanding of the status, trends, and drivers of the benthic environmental change remains limited. We interpolated sparse benthic temperature data along the New England Shelf and upper Slope using a seasonally dynamic, regionally specific multiple linear regression model that merged in situ and remote sensing data. The statistical model predicted nearly 90% of the variability of the data, resulting in a synoptic time series spanning over three decades from 1982 to 2014. Benthic temperatures increased throughout the domain, including in the Gulf of Maine. Rates of benthic warming ranged from 0.1 to 0.4°C per decade, with fastest rates occurring in shallow, nearshore regions and on Georges Bank, the latter exceeding rates observed in the surface. Rates of benthic warming were up to 1.6 times faster in winter than the rest of the year in many regions, with important implications for disease occurrence and energetics of overwintering species. Drivers of warming varied over the domain. In southern New England and the mid-Atlantic shallow Shelf regions, benthic warming was tightly coupled to changes in SST, whereas both regional and basin-scale changes in ocean circulation affect temperatures in the Gulf of Maine, the Continental Shelf, and Georges Banks. These results highlight data gaps, the current feasibility of prediction from remotely sensed variables, and the need for improved understanding on how climate may affect seasonally specific ecological processes.John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Grant Number: 14–106159-000-CFP; National Aeronautics and Space Administration Grant Number: NNX14AP62

Capturing coastal water clarity variability with Landsat 8

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Luis, K. M. A., Rheuban, J. E., Kavanaugh, M. T., Glover, D. M., Wei, J., Lee, Z., & Doney, S. C. Capturing coastal water clarity variability with Landsat 8. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 145, (2019): 96-104, doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2019.04.078.Coastal water clarity varies at high temporal and spatial scales due to weather, climate, and human activity along coastlines. Systematic observations are crucial to assessing the impact of water clarity change on aquatic habitats. In this study, Secchi disk depths (ZSD) from Boston Harbor, Buzzards Bay, Cape Cod Bay, and Narragansett Bay water quality monitoring organizations were compiled to validate ZSD derived from Landsat 8 (L8) imagery, and to generate high spatial resolution ZSD maps. From 58 L8 images, acceptable agreement was found between in situ and L8 ZSD in Buzzards Bay (N = 42, RMSE = 0.96 m, MAPD = 28%), Cape Cod Bay (N = 11, RMSE = 0.62 m, MAPD = 10%), and Narragansett Bay (N = 8, RMSE = 0.59 m, MAPD = 26%). This work demonstrates the value of merging in situ ZSD with high spatial resolution remote sensing estimates for improved coastal water quality monitoring.This work was supported by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (grant 14-106159-000-CFP) and by the National Science Foundation grant DGE 1249946, Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT): Coasts and Communities – Natural and Human Systems in Urbanizing Environments. Lastly, we are indebted to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority, Buzzards Bay Coalition, Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies, Narragansett Bay Commission, and the numerous citizen scientists responsible for collecting the in situ measurements used in this study. Comments and suggestions from our anonymous reviewer were greatly appreciated

High-resolution estimates of net community production and air-sea CO₂ flux in the northeast Pacific

Rates of net community production (NCP) and air-sea CO₂ flux in the Northeast Pacific subarctic, transition zone and subtropical regions (22°N–50°N, 145°W–152°W) were determined on a cruise in August–September 2008 by continuous measurement of surface values of the ratio of dissolved oxygen to argon (O₂/Ar) and the partial pressure of CO₂ (pCO₂). These estimates were compared with simultaneous measurements of sea surface temperature (SST), chlorophyll-a (chl-a), flow cytometry, and discrete surface nutrient concentrations. NCP and CO₂ influx were greatest in the subarctic (45°N–50°N, 25.8 ± 4.6 and 4.1 ± 0.9 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹) and northern transition zone (40°N–45°N, 17.1 ± 4.4 and 2.1 ± 0.5 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹), with mean NCP ∼6–8× greater than mean CO2 invasion (error estimates reflect 1 σ confidence intervals). Contrastingly, the southern transition zone (32°N–40°N) and subtropics (22°N–32°N) had lower mean NCP (5.4 ± 1.8 and 8.1 ± 2.1 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively) and mean CO₂ efflux (3.0 ± 0.5 and 0.1 ± 0.0 mmol C m⁻² d⁻¹, respectively). In the subarctic and transition zone, NCP was highly correlated with surface chl-a and CO₂ influx, indicating strong coupling between the biological pump and CO₂ uptake. Meridional trends in our NCP estimates in the transition zone and subtropics were similar to those for integrated summertime NCP along the cruise track determined using an upper ocean climatological carbon budget

Satellite sensor requirements for monitoring essential biodiversity variables of coastal ecosystems

© The Author(s), 2018. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Ecological Applications 28 (2018): 749-760, doi: 10.1002/eap.1682.The biodiversity and high productivity of coastal terrestrial and aquatic habitats are the foundation for important benefits to human societies around the world. These globally distributed habitats need frequent and broad systematic assessments, but field surveys only cover a small fraction of these areas. Satellite‐based sensors can repeatedly record the visible and near‐infrared reflectance spectra that contain the absorption, scattering, and fluorescence signatures of functional phytoplankton groups, colored dissolved matter, and particulate matter near the surface ocean, and of biologically structured habitats (floating and emergent vegetation, benthic habitats like coral, seagrass, and algae). These measures can be incorporated into Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs), including the distribution, abundance, and traits of groups of species populations, and used to evaluate habitat fragmentation. However, current and planned satellites are not designed to observe the EBVs that change rapidly with extreme tides, salinity, temperatures, storms, pollution, or physical habitat destruction over scales relevant to human activity. Making these observations requires a new generation of satellite sensors able to sample with these combined characteristics: (1) spatial resolution on the order of 30 to 100‐m pixels or smaller; (2) spectral resolution on the order of 5 nm in the visible and 10 nm in the short‐wave infrared spectrum (or at least two or more bands at 1,030, 1,240, 1,630, 2,125, and/or 2,260 nm) for atmospheric correction and aquatic and vegetation assessments; (3) radiometric quality with signal to noise ratios (SNR) above 800 (relative to signal levels typical of the open ocean), 14‐bit digitization, absolute radiometric calibration <2%, relative calibration of 0.2%, polarization sensitivity <1%, high radiometric stability and linearity, and operations designed to minimize sunglint; and (4) temporal resolution of hours to days. We refer to these combined specifications as H4 imaging. Enabling H4 imaging is vital for the conservation and management of global biodiversity and ecosystem services, including food provisioning and water security. An agile satellite in a 3‐d repeat low‐Earth orbit could sample 30‐km swath images of several hundred coastal habitats daily. Nine H4 satellites would provide weekly coverage of global coastal zones. Such satellite constellations are now feasible and are used in various applications.National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Grant Numbers: NNX16AQ34G, NNX14AR62A; National Ocean Partnership Program; NOAA US Integrated Ocean Observing System/IOOS Program Office; Bureau of Ocean and Energy Management Ecosystem Studies program (BOEM) Grant Number: MC15AC0000

Rheumatoid arthritis - treatment: 180. Utility of Body Weight Classified Low-Dose Leflunomide in Japanese Rheumatoid Arthritis

Background: In Japan, more than 20 rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients died of interstitial pneumonia (IP) caused by leflunomide (LEF) were reported, but many of them were considered as the victims of opportunistic infection currently. In this paper, efficacy and safety of low-dose LEF classified by body weight (BW) were studied. Methods: Fifty-nine RA patients were started to administrate LEF from July 2007 to July 2009. Among them, 25 patients were excluded because of the combination with tacrolimus, and medication modification within 3 months before LEF. Remaining 34 RA patients administered 20 to 50 mg/week of LEF were followed up for 1 year and enrolled in this study. Dose of LEF was classified by BW (50 mg/week for over 50 kg, 40 mg/week for 40 to 50 kg and 20 to 30 mg/week for under 40 kg). The average age and RA duration of enrolled patients were 55.5 years old and 10.2 years. Prednisolone (PSL), methotrexate (MTX) and etanercept were used in 23, 28 and 2 patients, respectively. In case of insufficient response or adverse effect, dosage change or discontinuance of LEF were considered. Failure was defined as dosages up of PSL and MTX, or dosages down or discontinuance of LEF. Last observation carried forward method was used for the evaluation of failed patients at 1 year. Results: At 1 year after LEF start, good/ moderate/ no response assessed by the European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) response criteria using Disease Activity Score, including a 28-joint count (DAS28)-C reactive protein (CRP) were showed in 14/ 10/ 10 patients, respectively. The dosage changes of LEF at 1 year were dosage up: 10, same dosage: 5, dosage down: 8 and discontinuance: 11 patients. The survival rate of patients in this study was 23.5% (24 patients failed) but actual LEF continuous rate was 67.6% (11 patients discontinued) at 1 year. The major reason of failure was liver dysfunction, and pneumocystis pneumonia was occurred in 1 patient resulted in full recovery. One patient died of sepsis caused by decubitus ulcer infection. DAS28-CRP score was decreased from 3.9 to 2.7 significantly. Although CRP was decreased from 1.50 to 0.93 mg/dl, it wasn't significant. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-3 was decreased from 220.0 to 174.2 ng/ml significantly. Glutamate pyruvate transaminase (GPT) was increased from 19 to 35 U/l and number of leukocyte was decreased from 7832 to 6271 significantly. DAS28-CRP, CRP, and MMP-3 were improved significantly with MTX, although they weren't without MTX. Increase of GPT and leukopenia were seen significantly with MTX, although they weren't without MTX. Conclusions: It was reported that the risks of IP caused by LEF in Japanese RA patients were past IP history, loading dose administration and low BW. Addition of low-dose LEF is a potent safe alternative for the patients showing unsatisfactory response to current medicines, but need to pay attention for liver function and infection caused by leukopenia, especially with MTX. Disclosure statement: The authors have declared no conflicts of interes