Description: We identified defense compounds that are present on the surface of Zostera marina and inhibit settlement of microfoulers at natural concentration. Moderately polar eelgrass surface extract prepared with propan-2-ol inhibited the settlement of seven marine bacteria that originated from nonliving substrata and of one yeast, while five other bacterial strains that had been directly isolated from eelgrass surfaces were all insensitive (see https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877254). In contrast, microbial growth was not inhibited by these extracts (see https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877255 and https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877379). Avter solvent evaporation propan-2-ol extract could be redissolved in methanol without activiy loss (see https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877380). Of six fractions prepared from propan-2-ol crude extract by HPLC three inhibited certain microorganisms (see https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877384). Rosmarinic acid, luteolin-7-sulfate and diosmetin-7-sulfate or its isomer chrysoeriol-7-sulfate were identified as main components in these fractions and all three compounds prevented bacterial settlement in a dose-dependent manner (see https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877732 and https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.877734).

Description: Climate change will not only shift environmental means but will also increase the intensity of extreme events, exerting additional stress on ecosystems. While field observations on the ecological consequences of heat waves are emerging, experimental evidence is rare, and lacking at the community level. Using a novel “near‐natural” outdoor mesocosms approach, this study tested whether marine summer heat waves have detrimental consequences for macrofauna of a temperate coastal community, and whether sequential heat waves provoke an increase or decrease of sensitivity to thermal stress. Three treatments were applied, defined and characterized through a statistical analysis of 15 years of temperature records from the experimental site: (1) no heat wave, (2) two heat waves in June and July followed by a summer heat wave in August and (3) the summer heat wave only. Overall, 50% of the species showed positive, negative or positive/negative responses in either abundance and/or biomass. We highlight four possible ways in which single species responded to either three subsequent heat waves or one summer heat wave: (1) absence of a response (tolerance, 50% of species), (2) negative accumulative effects by three subsequent heat waves (tellinid bivalve), (3) buffering by proceeding heat waves due to acclimation and/or shifts in phenology (spionid polychaete) and (4) an accumulative positive effect by subsequent heat waves (amphipod). The differential responses to single or sequential heat waves at the species level entailed shifts at the community level. Community‐level differences between single and triple heat waves were more pronounced than those between regimes with vs. without heat waves. Detritivory was reduced by the single heat wave while suspension feeding was less common in the triple heat wave regime. Critical extreme events occur already today and will occur more frequently in a changing climate, thus, leading to detrimental impacts on coastal marine systems.

Description: 13 response variable have been measured for Fucus vesiculosus and Zostera marina. Year: 2015 Where: Kiel Outdoor Benthocosm Treatments: - Co (0HW) = ambient treatment with no heatwaves - 1HW = one summer heatwave - 3HWs = three heatwaves, 2 spring/early summer heatwaves After 3HW means end of the experiment.

Description: Data on morphological and biochemical traits of the bladderwrack Fucus vesiculosus were obtained from individuals simultaneously collected in September 2011 in 20 stations along the Baltic Sea and 4 stations in the North Sea. The individuals included in the analysis were collected at 0.5-1.0 m depth. Frond length, frond width, stipe width and number of fronds were directly determined in the field. All collected individuals were transported to the laboratory in cooler boxes at temperatures below 5 °C, then frozen at -20 °C within 12 h, and shipped to the GEOMAR-Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (Germany) on dry ice. Measurements of chlorophyll a and fucoxanthin in surface and tissue extracts, mannitol, phlorotannins and carbon:nitrogen ratio were performed in the laboratory (see further methodological details in the related article). The relative palatability of the algal material collected in all 24 stations was determined in palatability assays, using reconstituted algal pellets and the pan-Baltic grazer Idotea balthica. In addition to the trait information, environmental data on sea surface salinity, sea surface summer temperature, photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), wave exposure and total nitrogen have been obtained from the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute (SMHI) or local monitoring services.

Description: We here present data underlying a pilot study that investigated the effects of oligo-alginate elicitation on juvenile and adult sporophytes of Saccharina japonica cultivated in China and on adult sporophytes of Saccharina latissima cultivated in Germany. In two consecutive years, treatment with oligo-alginate clearly reduced the detachment of S. japonica juveniles from their substrate curtains during the nursery stage in greenhouse ponds (see data underlying Figure 1 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.896660). Oligo-alginate elicitation also decreased the density of endo-bionts on sporophytes of S. latissima that were cultivated on sea-based rafts (data underlying figure 3 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.896662). However, the treatment increased the susceptibility of kelp adults to settlement of epi-bionts (barnacles in Germany [data underlying figure 3 and data underlying figure 4 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.896662, https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.896663] and filamentous algal epiphytes in China [data underlying figure 2 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.896661]). In addition, oligoalginate elicitation accelerated the aging of S. japonica adults [data underlying figure 2 https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.896661].

Description: We compared the responses of native and non-native populations of the seaweed Gracilaria vermiculophylla to heat shock in common garden-type experiments. Specimens from six native populations in East Asia and from eight non-native populations in Europe and on the Mexican Pacific coast were acclimated to two sets of identical conditions before their resistance to heat shock was examined. The experiments were carried out twice - one time in the native range in Qingdao, China and one time in the invaded range in Kiel, Germany - to rule out effects of specific local conditions. In both testing sites the non-native populations survived heat shock significantly better than the native populations, The data underlying this statement are presented in https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.859335. After three hours of heat shock G. vermiculophylla exhibited increased levels of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) and of a specific isoform of haloperoxidase, suggesting that both enzymes could be required for heat shock stress management. However, the elevated resistance toward heat shock of non-native populations only correlated with an increased constitutive expression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70). The haloperoxidase isoform was more prominent in native populations, suggesting that not only increased HSP70 expression, but also reduced allocation into haloperoxidase expression after heat shock was selected during the invasion history. The data describing expression of HSP70 and three different isoforms of haloperoxidase are presented in https://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.859358.

Description: The experiment with Gracilaria vermiculophylla contains the following datasets: assays with extracts and ceramium, assays with extracts and diatom, assays with living algae and ceramium and assays with living algae and diatom. Data on the relationship between fluorescence intensity and diatom density and the relationship between algal surface area and algal wet weight are available under further details.

Description: The capacity of the East Asian seaweed Gracilaria vermiculophylla ("Ogonori") for production of prostaglandin E2 from arachidonic acid occasionally causes food poisoning after ingestion. During the last two decades the alga has been introduced to Europe and North America. Non-native populations have been shown to be generally less palatable to marine herbivores than native populations. We hypothesized that the difference in palatability among populations could be due to differences in the algal content of prostaglandins. We therefore compared the capacity for wound-activated production of prostaglandins and other eicosatetraenoid oxylipins among five native populations in East Asia and seven non-native populations in Europe and NW Mexico, using a targeted metabolomics approach. In two independent experiments non-native populations exhibited a significant tendency to produce more eicosatetraenoids than native populations after acclimation to identical conditions and subsequent artificial wounding. Fourteen out of 15 eicosatetraenoids that were detected in experiment I and all 19 eicosatetraenoids that were detected in experiment II reached higher mean concentrations in non-native than in native specimens. The datasets generated in both experiments are contained in http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.855008. Wounding of non-native specimens resulted on average in 390 % more 15-keto-PGE2, in 90 % more PGE2, in 37 % more PGA2 and in 96 % more 7,8-di-hydroxy eicosatetraenoic acid than wounding of native specimens. The dataset underlying this statement is contained in http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.854847. Not only PGE2, but also PGA2 and dihydroxylated eicosatetraenoic acid are known to deter various biological enemies of G. vermiculophylla that cause tissue or cell wounding, and in the present study the latter two compounds also repelled the mesograzer Littorina brevicula. The dataset underlying this statement is contained in http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.854922. Non-native populations of G. vermiculophylla are thus more defended against herbivory than native populations. This increased capacity for activated chemical defense may have contributed to their invasion success and at the same time it poses an elevated risk for human food safety.

Description: Rapid adaptation to novel biotic interactions and abiotic factors in introduced ranges can be critical to invasion success of both exotic terrestrial and aquatic plants. Seaweeds are extremely successful biological invaders in marine environments. Along with herbivores, foulers − ubiquitous enemies in the marine environment − have the potential to determine the success or failure of invasive seaweeds. However, research on the topic of rapid adaptation of seaweeds to biotic challenges is still in its nascent stages and rapid adaptation of seaweeds to fouling is unexplored. We tested whether the impressive invasion success of the red macroalga Gracilaria vermiculophylla may be enhanced by the rapid adaptation of chemical control (defence) of new bacterial epibionts in the invaded range. The native and invasive G. vermiculophylla populations investigated were equally well defended against currently co-occurring bacterial epibionts isolated from their respective ranges. In contrast, the native populations were weakly defended against bacterial epibionts from the invaded range, whereas the invasive populations were weakly defended against bacterial epibionts from their native range. Apparently during the invasion process, invasive populations have adapted their control capacity to cope with the new epibionts but have lost the capacity to fend off old epibionts. Synthesis. These results provide the first evidence that a change in habitat and, thus, confrontation by new enemies, may trigger rapid defence adaptation of seaweeds, which could be necessary for invasiveness. Such adaptation dynamics as found in the current study could be also applicable to other types of host plant – enemy interaction e.g. plant root – microbe interactions, freshwater plant – fouler interactions in general and for cases of shifting plant – enemy interactions in course of climate change.