Saderne, Vincent, Fietzek, Peer, Aßmann, Steffen, Hiebenthal, Claas and Martz, T. A. (2014) In situ continuous recording of the carbonate chemistry interactions between mussel and seagrass beds subjected to upwelling events using pH and pCO2 sensors. [Talk] In: Ocean Sciences Meeting 2014. , 23.-28.02.2014, Honululu, Hawaii, USA .

Abstract

Mussel and seagrass beds are characteristic of the shallow nearshores of the western Baltic Sea, forming a mosaic of habitat. The diverse physiological activities of seagrasses and mussels are affected by seawater carbonate chemistry and in return locally modify it. Seagrass photosynthesis decreases seawater CO2 concentration at daytime and increases it at night through respiration. This dynamic creates very favorable chemical condition to calcification at daytime but turn the habitat corrosive to calcium carbonates at night. In contrast, mussel respiration releases CO2, with the potential of locally changing the carbonate chemistry, turning the environment more favorable for photosynthesis by adjacent seagrass. Mussel calcification has the potential for reducing alkalinity (uptake of CO32-) thereby increasing CO2 concentration in seawater and reciprocally once dead, due to the dissolution of the shells. To capture these interactions between habitats, we 1) used a combination of state-of-the-art technologies to create an in-situ high precision carbonate sensor suite and 2) deployed it in August and September 2013 at the interface between a seagrass and a mussel patch submitted to series of down- and upwelling events.

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