204 research outputs found
Long-term effects of nutrient and CO2 enrichment on the temperate coral Astrangia poculata (Ellis and Solander, 1786)
Author Posting. Β© The Author(s), 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier B.V. for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 386 (2010): 27-33, doi:10.1016/j.jembe.2010.02.007.Zooxanthellate colonies of the scleractinian coral Astrangia poculata were grown
under combinations of ambient and elevated nutrients (5 ΞΌM NO3 -, 0.3 ΞΌM PO4
-3, and 2 nM Fe+2) and CO2 (~780 ppmv) treatments for a period of 6 months. Coral calcification
rates, estimated from buoyant weights, were not significantly affected by moderately
elevated nutrients at ambient CO2 and were negatively affected by elevated CO2 at
ambient nutrient levels. However, calcification by corals reared under elevated
nutrients combined with elevated CO2 was not significantly different from that of corals
reared under ambient conditions, suggesting that CO2 enrichment can lead to nutrient
limitation in zooxanthellate corals. A conceptual model is proposed to explain how
nutrients and CO2 interact to control zooxanthellate coral calcification. Nutrient limited
corals are unable to utilize an increase in dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) as nutrients
are already limiting growth, thus the effect of elevated CO2 on saturation state drives the
calcification response. Under nutrient replete conditions, corals may have the ability to
utilize more DIC, thus the calcification response to CO2 becomes the product of a
negative effect on saturation state and a positive effect on gross carbon fixation,
depending upon which dominates, the calcification response can be either positive or
negative. This may help explain how the range of coral responses found in different
studies of ocean acidification can be obtained.Funding for this work was provided by the Ocean Life Institute, NSF OCE-0648157, and
an International Society for Reef Studies / Ocean Conservancy Fellowship. This material
is based upon work supported under a National Science Foundation Graduate Research
Fellowship
Speech Communication
Contains reports on three research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 2 ROI NS04332)National Institutes of Health (Training Grant 5 T32 NS07040)C. J. LeBel FellowshipsNational Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS13028)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS76-80278)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS77-26871
Molecular developmental evidence for a subcoxal origin of pleurites in insects and identity of the subcoxa in the gnathal appendages
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ The attached file is the published version of the article
Diurnal changes in seawater carbonate chemistry speciation at increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide
Natural variability in seawater pH and associated carbonate chemistry parameters is in part driven by biological activities such as photosynthesis and respiration. The amplitude of these variations is expected to increase with increasing seawater carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations in the future, because of simultaneously decreasing buffer capacity. Here, we address this experimentally during a diurnal cycle in a mesocosm CO2 perturbation study. We show that for about the same amount of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) utilized in net community production diel variability in proton (H+) and CO2 concentrations was almost three times higher at CO2 levels of about 675 Β± 65 in comparison with levels of 310 Β± 30 ΞΌatm. With a simple model, adequately simulating our measurements, we visualize carbonate chemistry variability expected for different oceanic regions with relatively low or high net community production. Since enhanced diurnal variability in CO2 and proton concentration may require stronger cellular regulation in phytoplankton to maintain respective gradients, the ability to adjust may differ between communities adapted to low in comparison with high natural variability
Thienoisoindigo-Based Semiconductor Nanowires Assembled with 2-Bromobenzaldehyde via Both Halogen and Chalcogen Bonding
We fabricated nanowires of a conjugated oligomer and applied them to organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The supramolecular assemblies of a thienoisoindigo-based small molecular organic semiconductor (TIIG-Bz) were prepared by co-precipitation with 2-bromobenzaldehyde (2-BBA) via a combination of halogen bonding (XB) between the bromide in 2-BBA and electron-donor groups in TIIG-Bz, and chalcogen bonding (CB) between the aldehyde in 2-BBA and sulfur in TIIG-Bz. It was found that 2-BBA could be incorporated into the conjugated planes of TIIG-Bz via XB and CB pairs, thereby increasing the pi - pi stacking area between the conjugated planes. As a result, the driving force for one-dimensional growth of the supramolecular assemblies via pi - pi stacking was significantly enhanced. TIIG-Bz/2-BBA nanowires were used to fabricate OFETs, showing significantly enhanced charge transfer mobility compared to OFETs based on pure TIIG-Bz thin films and nanowires, which demonstrates the benefit of nanowire fabrication using 2-BB
Validation of standard and alternative satellite ocean-color chlorophyll products off Western Iberia
Chlorophyll a concentration (Chl) product validation off theWestern Iberian coast is here undertaken by directly
comparing remote sensing data with in situ surface reference values. Both standard and recently developed
alternative algorithms are considered for match-up data analysis. The investigated standard products are those
produced by the MERIS (algal 1 and algal 2) and MODIS (OC3M) algorithms. The alternative data products include
those generatedwithin the CoastColour Project and Ocean Color Climate Change Initiative (OC-CCI) funded
by ESA, as well as a neural net model trained with field measurements collected in the Atlantic off Portugal
(MLPATLP). Statistical analyses showed that satellite Chl estimates tend to be larger than in situ reference values.
The study also revealed that a non-uniform Chl distribution in the water column can be a concurring factor to the
documented overestimation tendency when considering larger optical depth match-up stations. Among standard
remote sensing products, MODIS OC3M and MERIS algal 2 yield the best agreement with in situ data. The
performance of MLPATLP highlights the capability of regional solutions to further improve Chl retrieval by accounting
for environmental specificities. Results also demonstrate the relevance of oceanographic regions such
as the NazarΓ© area to evaluate how complex hydrodynamic conditions can influence the quality of Chl products.This studywas performed in the framework
of HabSpot FCT Project, PTDC/MAR/100348/2008 and European
Space Agency projects DUE CoastColour (ESRIN/AO/1-6141/09/l-EC)
and Climate Change Iniciative β Ocean Color (AO-1/6207/09/I-LG).
The work has been also partially supported by the European Space
Agency within the framework of the MERIS Validation Activities under
contract n. 12595/09/I-OL, and sampling activities benefited from
European projects HERMES (GOCE-CT-2005-511234) and Hermione
(EC contract 226354) support. We would like to thank NASA OBPG for
the MODIS data and ESA Project AOPT-2423 for providing MERIS full
resolution images. Ana C. Brito was funded
by a Portuguese Post-doc grant from FCT (BPD/63017/2009) and by the
Investigador FCT Program (IF/00331/2013). Davide D'Alimonte was
funded by Investigador FCT Program (IF/00541/2013).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Effects of Ocean Acidification on Learning in Coral Reef Fishes
Ocean acidification has the potential to cause dramatic changes in marine ecosystems. Larval damselfish exposed to concentrations of CO2 predicted to occur in the mid- to late-century show maladaptive responses to predator cues. However, there is considerable variation both within and between species in CO2 effects, whereby some individuals are unaffected at particular CO2 concentrations while others show maladaptive responses to predator odour. Our goal was to test whether learning via chemical or visual information would be impaired by ocean acidification and ultimately, whether learning can mitigate the effects of ocean acidification by restoring the appropriate responses of prey to predators. Using two highly efficient and widespread mechanisms for predator learning, we compared the behaviour of pre-settlement damselfish Pomacentrus amboinensis that were exposed to 440 Β΅atm CO2 (current day levels) or 850 Β΅atm CO2, a concentration predicted to occur in the ocean before the end of this century. We found that, regardless of the method of learning, damselfish exposed to elevated CO2 failed to learn to respond appropriately to a common predator, the dottyback, Pseudochromis fuscus. To determine whether the lack of response was due to a failure in learning or rather a short-term shift in trade-offs preventing the fish from displaying overt antipredator responses, we conditioned 440 or 700 Β΅atm-CO2 fish to learn to recognize a dottyback as a predator using injured conspecific cues, as in Experiment 1. When tested one day post-conditioning, CO2 exposed fish failed to respond to predator odour. When tested 5 days post-conditioning, CO2 exposed fish still failed to show an antipredator response to the dottyback odour, despite the fact that both control and CO2-treated fish responded to a general risk cue (injured conspecific cues). These results indicate that exposure to CO2 may alter the cognitive ability of juvenile fish and render learning ineffective
Acclimatization of the crustose coralline alga Porolithon onkodes to variable pCO2
Ocean acidification (OA) has important implications for the persistence of coral reef ecosystems, due to potentially negative effects on biomineralization. Many coral reefs are dynamic with respect to carbonate chemistry, and experience fluctuations in pCO2 that exceed OA projections for the near future. To understand the influence of dynamic pCO2 on an important reef calcifier, we tested the response of the crustose coralline alga Porolithon onkodes to oscillating pCO2. Individuals were exposed to ambient (400 ??atm), high (660 ??atm), or variable pCO2 (oscillating between 400/660 ??atm) treatments for 14 days. To explore the potential for coralline acclimatization, we collected individuals from low and high pCO2 variability sites (upstream and downstream respectively) on a back reef characterized by unidirectional water flow in Moorea, French Polynesia. We quantified the effects of treatment on algal calcification by measuring the change in buoyant weight, and on algal metabolism by conducting sealed incubations to measure rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Net photosynthesis was higher in the ambient treatment than the variable treatment, regardless of habitat origin, and there was no effect on respiration or gross photosynthesis. Exposure to high pCO2 decreased P. onkodes calcification by >70%, regardless of the original habitat. In the variable treatment, corallines from the high variability habitat calcified 42% more than corallines from the low variability habitat. The significance of the original habitat for the coralline calcification response to variable, high pCO2 indicates that individuals existing in dynamic pCO2 habitats may be acclimatized to OA within the scope of in situ variability. These results highlight the importance of accounting for natural pCO2 variability in OA manipulations, and provide insight into the potential for plasticity in habitat and species-specific responses to changing ocean chemistry.Funding was provided by grants from the National Science Foundation (OCE-0417412, OCE-10-26852, OCE-1041270) and gifts from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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