skip to main content


Title: Responses of the large centric diatom Coscinodiscus sp. to interactions between warming, elevated CO 2 , and nitrate availability: Diatom responses to climate changes
Award ID(s):
1657757 1638804 1538525 1260490
NSF-PAR ID:
10050408
Author(s) / Creator(s):
 ;  ;  
Publisher / Repository:
Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Limnology and Oceanography
Volume:
63
Issue:
3
ISSN:
0024-3590
Page Range / eLocation ID:
1407 to 1424
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. PREMISE

    Biological invasions increasingly threaten native biodiversity and ecosystem services. One notable example is the common reed,Phragmites australis, which aggressively invades North American salt marshes. Elevated atmospheric CO2and nitrogen pollution enhance its growth and facilitate invasion becauseP. australisresponds more strongly to these enrichments than do native species. We investigated how modifications to stomatal features contribute to strong photosynthetic responses to CO2and nitrogen enrichment inP. australisby evaluating stomatal shifts under experimental conditions and relating them to maximal stomatal conductance (gwmax) and photosynthetic rates.

    METHODS

    Plants were grownin situin open‐top chambers under ambient and elevated atmospheric CO2(eCO2) and porewater nitrogen (Nenr) in a Chesapeake Bay tidal marsh. We measured light‐saturated carbon assimilation rates (Asat) and stomatal characteristics, from which we calculatedgwmaxand determined whether CO2and Nenraltered the relationship betweengwmaxandAsat.

    RESULTS

    eCO2and Nenrenhanced bothgwmaxandAsat, but to differing degrees;gwmaxwas more strongly influenced by Nenrthrough increases in stomatal density whileAsatwas more strongly stimulated by eCO2. There was a positive relationship betweengwmaxandAsatthat was not modified by eCO2or Nenr, individually or in combination.

    CONCLUSIONS

    Changes in stomatal features co‐occur with previously described responses ofP. australisto eCO2and Nenr. Complementary responses of stomatal length and density to these global change factors may facilitate greater stomatal conductance and carbon gain, contributing to the invasiveness of the introduced lineage.

     
    more » « less