Ocean acidification represents a key threat to coral reefs by reducing the calcification rate of the major reef framework builders. In addition, acidification is likely to affect the important relationship between corals and their symbiotic dinoflagellates, and on the productivity of this association. However, little is known about how acidification impacts on the physiology of key reef builders and how acidification interacts with warming.
Summary Synergies among stressors drive unanticipated changes to alternative states, yet little has been done to assess whether alleviating one or more contributing stressors may disrupt these interactions. It would be particularly useful to understand whether the synergistic effects of global and local stressors could be alleviated, leading to slower change or faster recovery, if conditions under the control of local management alone were managed (i.e. nutrient pollution). We utilized field-based mesocosms to manipulate CO2 (i.e.
In this paper, we demonstrated that ocean acidification (OA) had significant negative effects on the microscopic development of Saccharina japonica in a short-term exposure experiment under a range of light conditions. Under elevated CO2, the alga showed a significant reduction in meiospore germination, fecundity, and reproductive success. Larger female and male gametophytes were noted to occur under high CO2 conditions and high light magnified these positive effects.