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Vulnerability of macronutrients to the concurrent effects of enhanced temperature and atmospheric pCO2 in representative shelf sea sediment habitats

Vulnerability of macronutrients to the concurrent effects of enhanced temperature and atmospheric pCO2 in representative shelf sea sediment habitats
Vulnerability of macronutrients to the concurrent effects of enhanced temperature and atmospheric pCO2 in representative shelf sea sediment habitats
Fundamental changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and sea surface temperatures associated with the ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 are accelerating, but investigations of the susceptibility of biogeochemical processes to the simultaneous occurrence of multiple components of climate change are uncommon. Here, we quantify how concurrent changes in enhanced temperature and atmospheric pCO2, coupled with an associated shift in macrofaunal community structure and behavior (sediment particle reworking and bioirrigation), modify net carbon and nutrient concentrations (NH4-N, NOx-N, PO4-P) in representative shelf sea sediment habitats (mud, sandy-mud, muddy-sand and sand) of the Celtic Sea. We show that net concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphate are, irrespective of sediment type, largely unaffected by a simultaneous increase in temperature and atmospheric pCO2. However, our analyses also reveal that a reduction in macrofaunal species richness and total abundance occurs under future environmental conditions, varies across a gradient of cohesive to non-cohesive sediments, and negatively moderates biogeochemical processes, in particular nitrification. Our findings indicate that future environmental conditions are unlikely to have strong direct effects on biogeochemical processes but, particularly in muddy sands, the abundance, activity, composition and functional role of invertebrate communities are likely to be altered in ways that will be sufficient to regulate the function of the microbial community and the availability of nutrients in shelf sea waters.
0168-2563
89-102
Godbold, Jasmin A.
df6da569-e7ea-43ca-8a95-a563829fb88a
Hale, Rachel
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Wood, Christina L.
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Solan, Martin
c28b294a-1db6-4677-8eab-bd8d6221fecf
Godbold, Jasmin A.
df6da569-e7ea-43ca-8a95-a563829fb88a
Hale, Rachel
e5dfde12-523c-4000-ad0e-3431ffeafac1
Wood, Christina L.
9a3c06f1-8b71-4a44-867b-af38316ec369
Solan, Martin
c28b294a-1db6-4677-8eab-bd8d6221fecf

Godbold, Jasmin A., Hale, Rachel, Wood, Christina L. and Solan, Martin (2017) Vulnerability of macronutrients to the concurrent effects of enhanced temperature and atmospheric pCO2 in representative shelf sea sediment habitats. Biogeochemistry, 135 (1-2), 89-102. (doi:10.1007/s10533-017-0340-y).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Fundamental changes in seawater carbonate chemistry and sea surface temperatures associated with the ocean uptake of anthropogenic CO2 are accelerating, but investigations of the susceptibility of biogeochemical processes to the simultaneous occurrence of multiple components of climate change are uncommon. Here, we quantify how concurrent changes in enhanced temperature and atmospheric pCO2, coupled with an associated shift in macrofaunal community structure and behavior (sediment particle reworking and bioirrigation), modify net carbon and nutrient concentrations (NH4-N, NOx-N, PO4-P) in representative shelf sea sediment habitats (mud, sandy-mud, muddy-sand and sand) of the Celtic Sea. We show that net concentrations of organic carbon, nitrogen and phosphate are, irrespective of sediment type, largely unaffected by a simultaneous increase in temperature and atmospheric pCO2. However, our analyses also reveal that a reduction in macrofaunal species richness and total abundance occurs under future environmental conditions, varies across a gradient of cohesive to non-cohesive sediments, and negatively moderates biogeochemical processes, in particular nitrification. Our findings indicate that future environmental conditions are unlikely to have strong direct effects on biogeochemical processes but, particularly in muddy sands, the abundance, activity, composition and functional role of invertebrate communities are likely to be altered in ways that will be sufficient to regulate the function of the microbial community and the availability of nutrients in shelf sea waters.

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Accepted/In Press date: 26 May 2017
e-pub ahead of print date: 9 June 2017
Published date: 1 September 2017
Organisations: Ocean & Earth Science Technical, Ocean and Earth Science, Southampton Marine & Maritime Institute, Marine Biology & Ecology

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 410938
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/410938
ISSN: 0168-2563
PURE UUID: 2a29bcdb-3231-4793-ad6f-f96dbb4293d9
ORCID for Jasmin A. Godbold: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5558-8188
ORCID for Rachel Hale: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5079-5954
ORCID for Martin Solan: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-9924-5574

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 12 Jun 2017 16:31
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 04:09

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Contributors

Author: Rachel Hale ORCID iD
Author: Christina L. Wood
Author: Martin Solan ORCID iD

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