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Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton

Phytoplankton are key components of aquatic ecosystems, fixing CO(2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and supporting secondary production, yet relatively little is known about how future global warming might alter their biodiversity and associated ecosystem functioning. Here, we explore ho...

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Autores principales: Yvon-Durocher, Gabriel, Allen, Andrew P., Cellamare, Maria, Dossena, Matteo, Gaston, Kevin J., Leitao, Maria, Montoya, José M., Reuman, Daniel C., Woodward, Guy, Trimmer, Mark
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2015
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4682994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26680314
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002324
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author Yvon-Durocher, Gabriel
Allen, Andrew P.
Cellamare, Maria
Dossena, Matteo
Gaston, Kevin J.
Leitao, Maria
Montoya, José M.
Reuman, Daniel C.
Woodward, Guy
Trimmer, Mark
author_facet Yvon-Durocher, Gabriel
Allen, Andrew P.
Cellamare, Maria
Dossena, Matteo
Gaston, Kevin J.
Leitao, Maria
Montoya, José M.
Reuman, Daniel C.
Woodward, Guy
Trimmer, Mark
author_sort Yvon-Durocher, Gabriel
collection PubMed
description Phytoplankton are key components of aquatic ecosystems, fixing CO(2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and supporting secondary production, yet relatively little is known about how future global warming might alter their biodiversity and associated ecosystem functioning. Here, we explore how the structure, function, and biodiversity of a planktonic metacommunity was altered after five years of experimental warming. Our outdoor mesocosm experiment was open to natural dispersal from the regional species pool, allowing us to explore the effects of experimental warming in the context of metacommunity dynamics. Warming of 4°C led to a 67% increase in the species richness of the phytoplankton, more evenly-distributed abundance, and higher rates of gross primary productivity. Warming elevated productivity indirectly, by increasing the biodiversity and biomass of the local phytoplankton communities. Warming also systematically shifted the taxonomic and functional trait composition of the phytoplankton, favoring large, colonial, inedible phytoplankton taxa, suggesting stronger top-down control, mediated by zooplankton grazing played an important role. Overall, our findings suggest that temperature can modulate species coexistence, and through such mechanisms, global warming could, in some cases, increase the species richness and productivity of phytoplankton communities.
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spelling pubmed-46829942015-12-31 Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton Yvon-Durocher, Gabriel Allen, Andrew P. Cellamare, Maria Dossena, Matteo Gaston, Kevin J. Leitao, Maria Montoya, José M. Reuman, Daniel C. Woodward, Guy Trimmer, Mark PLoS Biol Research Article Phytoplankton are key components of aquatic ecosystems, fixing CO(2) from the atmosphere through photosynthesis and supporting secondary production, yet relatively little is known about how future global warming might alter their biodiversity and associated ecosystem functioning. Here, we explore how the structure, function, and biodiversity of a planktonic metacommunity was altered after five years of experimental warming. Our outdoor mesocosm experiment was open to natural dispersal from the regional species pool, allowing us to explore the effects of experimental warming in the context of metacommunity dynamics. Warming of 4°C led to a 67% increase in the species richness of the phytoplankton, more evenly-distributed abundance, and higher rates of gross primary productivity. Warming elevated productivity indirectly, by increasing the biodiversity and biomass of the local phytoplankton communities. Warming also systematically shifted the taxonomic and functional trait composition of the phytoplankton, favoring large, colonial, inedible phytoplankton taxa, suggesting stronger top-down control, mediated by zooplankton grazing played an important role. Overall, our findings suggest that temperature can modulate species coexistence, and through such mechanisms, global warming could, in some cases, increase the species richness and productivity of phytoplankton communities. Public Library of Science 2015-12-17 /pmc/articles/PMC4682994/ /pubmed/26680314 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002324 Text en © 2015 Yvon-Durocher et al http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Yvon-Durocher, Gabriel
Allen, Andrew P.
Cellamare, Maria
Dossena, Matteo
Gaston, Kevin J.
Leitao, Maria
Montoya, José M.
Reuman, Daniel C.
Woodward, Guy
Trimmer, Mark
Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton
title Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton
title_full Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton
title_fullStr Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton
title_full_unstemmed Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton
title_short Five Years of Experimental Warming Increases the Biodiversity and Productivity of Phytoplankton
title_sort five years of experimental warming increases the biodiversity and productivity of phytoplankton
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4682994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26680314
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.1002324
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