Warming has stronger direct than indirect effects on benthic microalgae in a seaweed system in spring.

Werner, Franziska J. and Matthiessen, Birte (2017) Warming has stronger direct than indirect effects on benthic microalgae in a seaweed system in spring. Open Access Marine Biology, 164 (4). Art. No. 67. DOI 10.1007/s00227-017-3109-x.

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Supplementary data:

Abstract

Using outdoor mesocosms we investigated the relative importance of the direct and indirect (here: altered grazing) effects of seawater warming on benthic microalgae in a Baltic Sea Fucus vesiculosus (Phaeophyceae) system during the spring season. Seawater warming had a positive main effect on microalgal total biomass accrual and growth rate and on total mesograzer abundance and biomass. Moreover, under the existing resource-replete conditions in spring the direct positive effect of warming on microalgae was stronger than its indirect negative effect through enhanced grazing. The outcome of this study contrasts previous observations from the summer and winter season, where indirect effects of warming mediated by altered grazing were identified as an important driver of primary biomass in the Fucus system. In this context, the results from the spring season add mechanistic information to the overall understanding of the seasonal variability of climate change effects. They suggest that the relative importance of the underlying direct and indirect effective pathways of warming and the overall effect on the balance between production and consumption are influenced by the trophic state of the system, which in temperate regions is related to season.

Document Type: Article
Keywords: Fucus vesiculosus; seaweed; Baltic Sea
Research affiliation: OceanRep > GEOMAR > FB3 Marine Ecology > FB3-EOE-N Experimental Ecology - Food Webs
Refereed: Yes
Open Access Journal?: No
Publisher: Springer
Projects: BIOACID, Future Ocean
Date Deposited: 29 Mar 2017 07:21
Last Modified: 06 Feb 2020 09:16
URI: https://oceanrep.geomar.de/id/eprint/37260

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