Ocean acidification increases the accumulation of toxic phenolic compounds across trophic levels

Date modified: 12 June 2019

Increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations are causing ocean acidification (OA), altering carbonate chemistry with consequences for marine organisms. Here we show that OA increases by 46–212% the production of phenolic compounds in phytoplankton grown under the elevated CO2 concentrations projected for the end of this century, compared with the ambient CO2 level. At the same time, mitochondrial respiration rate is enhanced under elevated CO2 concentrations by 130–160% in a single species or mixed phytoplankton assemblage. When fed with phytoplankton cells grown under OA, zooplankton assemblages have significantly higher phenolic compound content, by about 28–48%. The functional consequences of the increased accumulation of toxic phenolic compounds in primary and secondary producers have the potential to have profound consequences for marine ecosystem and seafood quality, with the possibility that fishery industries could be influenced as a result of progressive ocean changes.

View source

Data and Resources

Rating

This dataset has no data

Identifier doi:10.1038/ncomms9714
Issued 2019-06-12T12:18:37.692813
Modified 2019-06-12T12:18:37.692823
DCAT Type Text
Source http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/151027/ncomms9714/full/ncomms9714.html?WT.ec_id=NCOMMS-20151028&spMailingID=49880291&spUserID=ODkwMTM2NjQyNgS2&spJobID=783931636&spReportId=NzgzOTMxNjM2S0
Contact Point
  • Jin P, Wang T, Liu N, Dupont S, Beardall J, Boyd P W, Riebesell U, Gao K