Description: To better understand the impact of ocean acidification (OA) and changes in light availability on Southern Ocean phytoplankton physiology, we investigated the effects of pCO2 (380 and 800 µatm) in combination with low and high irradiance (20 or 50 and 200 µmol photons/m2/s) on growth, particulate organic carbon (POC) fixation and photophysiology in the three ecologically relevant species Chaetoceros debilis, Fragilariopsis kerguelensis and Phaeocystis antarctica. Irrespective of the light scenario, neither growth nor POC per cell was stimulated by OA in any of the tested species and the two diatoms even displayed negative responses in growth (e.g. C. debilis) or POC content (e.g. F. kerguelensis) under OA in conjunction with high light. For both diatoms, also maximum quantum yields of PSII (Fv/Fm) were decreased under these conditions, indicating lowered photochemical efficiencies. To counteract the negative effects by OA and high light, the two diatoms showed diverging photoacclimation strategies. While cellular chlorophyll a and fucoxanthin contents were enhanced in C. debilis to potentially maximize light absorption, F. kerguelensis exhibited reduced chlorophyll a per cell, increased disconnection of antennae from photosystem II reaction centers and strongly lowered absolute electron transport rates (ETR). The decline in ETRs in F. kerguelensis might be explained in terms of different species-specific strategies for tuning the available flux of adenosine triphosphate and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. Overall, our results revealed that P. antarctica was more tolerant to OA and changes in irradiance than the two diatoms, which may have important implications for biogeochemical cycling.

Description: Temperature is a major driver for the geographical distribution of organisms, such as the foundation kelp species Saccharina latissima. Globally rising sea surface temperatures and intensification of marine heatwaves have already led to local loss of kelp populations. We investigated temporal variations in the thermal susceptibility of S. latissima. Therefore, we assessed the stress responses of field sporophytes sampled from Helgoland (German Bight) to an experimental heat wave scenario in June 2018, August 2018, and August 2019. The experiment in June 2018 was conducted by Diehl et al. (2021a) and the respective dataset (Diehl et al. 2021b, https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.931637) was re-evaluated for this study. Treatment temperatures (18, 20, 22, 24 °C) were based on 18 °C summer mean sea surface temperature on Helgoland as control, and Δ+2, Δ+4, Δ+6 °C as temperature-amplitude treatments, mimicking marine heatwaves. After a three-days wound healing phase, seven days of temperature acclimation (day 0-7) and seven days of temperature treatment (day 8-14) followed. The survival, growth and maximum photosynthetic quantum yield (Fv/Fm; June 2018/August 2018: ImagingPAM, Walz Imaging PAM Maxi Version M-series; August 2019: Portable Chlorophyll Fluorometer PAM-2100, Heinz Walz GmbH, Effeltrich, Germany) were measured on day 0 and day 14. To highlight changes as response to the experimental heat wave, physiological parameters were shown as percentage of the initial values. Absolute concentrations of pigments were analyzed using a HPLC. Afterwards, accessory pigment (Acc) and xanthophyll cycle pigment (VAZ) concentration, as well as the de-epoxidation state of the xanthophyll cycle (DPS) and ratios were calculated.