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1. Marine phytoplankton functional types exhibit diverse responses to thermal change

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-26651-8  

   Anderson, S. I.; Barton, A. D.; Clayton, S.; Dutkiewicz, S.; Rynearson, T. A. (December 2021, Nature Communications)

   Abstract Marine phytoplankton generate half of global primary production, making them essential to ecosystem functioning and biogeochemical cycling. Though phytoplankton are phylogenetically diverse, studies rarely designate unique thermal traits to different taxa, resulting in coarse representations of phytoplankton thermal responses. Here we assessed phytoplankton functional responses to temperature using empirically derived thermal growth rates from four principal contributors to marine productivity: diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria, and coccolithophores. Using modeled sea surface temperatures for 1950–1970 and 2080–2100, we explored potential alterations to each group’s growth rates and geographical distribution under a future climate change scenario. Contrary to the commonly applied Eppley formulation, our data suggest phytoplankton functional types may be characterized by different temperature coefficients (Q 10 ), growth maxima thermal dependencies, and thermal ranges which would drive dissimilar responses to each degree of temperature change. These differences, when applied in response to global simulations of future temperature, result in taxon-specific projections of growth and geographic distribution, with low-latitude coccolithophores facing considerable decreases and cyanobacteria substantial increases in growth rates. These results suggest that the singular effect of changing temperature may alter phytoplankton global community structure, owing to the significant variability in thermal response between phytoplankton functional types. 

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2. Experimental warming across a tropical forest canopy height gradient reveals minimal photosynthetic and respiratory acclimation

   https://doi.org/10.1111/pce.14134  

   Carter, Kelsey R.; Wood, Tana E.; Reed, Sasha C.; Butts, Kaylie M.; Cavaleri, Molly A. (January 2021, Plant cell and environment)

   Tropical forest canopies cycle vast amounts of carbon, yet we still have a limited understanding of how these critical ecosystems will respond to climate warming. We implemented in situ leaf-level + 3°C experimental warming from the understory to the upper canopy of two Puerto Rican tropical tree species, Guarea guidonia and Ocotea sintenisii. After approximately 1 month of continuous warming, we assessed adjustments in photosynthesis, chlorophyll fluorescence, stomatal conductance, leaf traits and foliar respiration. Warming did not alter net photosynthetic temperature response for either species; however, the optimum temperature of Ocotea understory leaf photosynthetic electron transport shifted upward. There was no Ocotea respiratory treatment effect, while Guarea respiratory temperature sensitivity (Q10) was down-regulated in heated leaves. The optimum temperatures for photosynthesis (Topt) decreased 3–5°C from understory to the highest canopy position, perhaps due to upper canopy stomatal conductance limitations. Guarea upper canopy Topt was similar to the mean daytime temperatures, while Ocotea canopy leaves often operated above Topt. With minimal acclimation to warmer temperatures in the upper canopy, further warming could put these forests at risk of reduced CO2 uptake, which could weaken the overall carbon sink strength of this tropical forest. 

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3. The interactive effects of temperature and nutrients on a spring phytoplankton community

   https://doi.org/10.1002/lno.12023  

   Anderson, Stephanie I.; Franzè, Gayantonia; Kling, Joshua D.; Wilburn, Paul; Kremer, Colin T.; Menden‐Deuer, Susanne; Litchman, Elena; Hutchins, David A.; Rynearson, Tatiana A. (February 2022, Limnology and Oceanography)

   A complex interplay of environmental variables impacts phytoplankton community composition and physiology. Temperature and nutrient availability are two principal factors driving phytoplankton growth and composition, but are often investigated independently and on individual species in the laboratory. To assess the individual and interactive effects of temperature and nutrient concentration on phytoplankton community composition and physiology, we altered both the thermal and nutrient conditions of a cold-adapted spring phytoplankton community in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, when surface temperature was 2.6
   C and chlorophyll > 9 μg L1. Water was incubated in triplicate at 0.5
   C, 2.6
   C, and 6
   C for 10 d. At each temperature, treatments included both nutrient amendments (N, P, Si addition) and controls (no macronutrients added). The interactive effects of temperature and resource availability altered phytoplankton growth and community structure. Nutrient amendments resulted in species sorting and communities dominated by larger species. Under replete nutrients, warming tripled phytoplankton growth rates, but under in situ nutrient conditions, increased temperature acted antagonistically, reducing growth rates by as much as 33%, suggesting communities became nutrient limited. The temperature–nutrient interplay shifted the relative proportions of each species within the phytoplankton community, resulting in more silica rich cells at decreasing temperatures, irrespective of nutrients, and C : N that varied based on resource availability, with nutrient limitation inducing a 47% increase in C : N at increasing temperatures. Our results illustrate how the temperature–nutrient interplay can alter phytoplankton community dynamics, with changes in temperature amplifying or exacerbating the nutrient effect with implications for higher trophic levels and carbon flux. 

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4. How modularity and heterotrophy complicate the understanding of the causes of thermal performance curves: the case of feeding rate in a filter-feeding animal

   https://doi.org/10.1242/jeb.247776  

   Powell, Jackson A; Burgess, Scott C (June 2024, Journal of Experimental Biology)

   ABSTRACT Warming global temperatures have consequences for biological rates. Feeding rates reflect the intake of energy that fuels survival, growth and reproduction. However, temperature can also affect food abundance and quality, as well as feeding behavior, which all affect feeding rate, making it challenging to understand the pathways by which temperature affects the intake of energy. Therefore, we experimentally assessed how clearance rate varied across a thermal gradient in a filter-feeding colonial marine invertebrate (the bryozoan Bugula neritina). We also assessed how temperature affects phytoplankton as a food source, and zooid states within a colony that affect energy budgets and feeding behavior. Clearance rate increased linearly from 18°C to 32°C, a temperature range that the population experiences most of the year. However, temperature increased algal cell size, and decreased the proportion of feeding zooids, suggesting indirect effects of temperature on clearance rates. Temperature increased polypide regression, possibly as a stress response because satiation occurred quicker, or because phytoplankton quality declined. Temperature had a greater effect on clearance rate per feeding zooid than it did per total zooids. Together, these results suggest that the effect of temperature on clearance rate at the colony level is not just the outcome of individual zooids feeding more in direct response to temperature but also emerges from temperature increasing polypide regression and the remaining zooids increasing their feeding rates in response. Our study highlights some of the challenges for understanding why temperature affects feeding rates, especially for understudied, yet ecologically important, marine colonial organisms. 

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5. A meta-analysis on environmental drivers of marine phytoplankton C : N : P

   https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-17-2939-2020  

   Tanioka, Tatsuro; Matsumoto, Katsumi (January 2020, Biogeosciences)

   null (Ed.)

   Abstract. The elemental stoichiometry of marine phytoplankton plays a critical role in global biogeochemical cycles through its impact on nutrient cycling, secondary production, and carbon export. Although extensive laboratory experiments have been carried out over the years to assess the influence of different environmental drivers on the elemental composition of phytoplankton, a comprehensive quantitative assessment of the processes is still lacking. Here, we synthesized the responses of P:C and N:C ratios of marine phytoplankton to five major drivers (inorganic phosphorus, inorganic nitrogen, inorganic iron, irradiance, and temperature) by a meta-analysis of experimental data across 366 experiments from 104 journal articles. Our results show that the response of these ratios to changes in macronutrients is consistent across all the studies, where the increase in nutrient availability is positively related to changes in P:C and N:C ratios. We found that eukaryotic phytoplankton are more sensitive to the changes in macronutrients compared to prokaryotes, possibly due to their larger cell size and their abilities to regulate their gene expression patterns quickly. The effect of irradiance was significant and constant across all studies, where an increase in irradiance decreased both P:C and N:C. The P:C ratio decreased significantly with warming, but the response to temperature changes was mixed depending on the culture growth mode and the growth phase at the time of harvest. Along with other oceanographic conditions of the subtropical gyres (e.g., low macronutrient availability), the elevated temperature may explain why P:C is consistently low in subtropical oceans. Iron addition did not systematically change either P:C or N:C. Overall, our findings highlight the high stoichiometric plasticity of eukaryotes and the importance of macronutrients in determining P:C and N:C ratios, which both provide us insights on how to understand and model plankton diversity and productivity. 

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