Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification

Ocean acidification (OA), caused by the dissolution of increasing concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in seawater, is projected to cause significant changes to marine ecology and biogeochemistry. Potential impacts on the microbially driven cycling of nitrogen are of particular concern. Specifically, under seawater pH levels approximating future OA scenarios, rates of ammonia oxidation (the rate-limiting first step of the nitrification pathway) have been shown to dramatically decrease in seawater, but not in underlying sediments. However, no prior study has considered the interactive effects of microbial ammonia oxidation and macrofaunal bioturbation activity, which can enhance nitrogen transformation rates. Using experimental mesocosms, we investigated the responses to OA of ammonia oxidizing microorganisms inhabiting surface sediments and sediments within burrow walls of the mud shrimp Upogebia deltaura. Seawater was acidified to one of four target pH values (pHT 7.90, 7.70, 7.35 and 6.80) in comparison with a control (pHT 8.10). At pHT 8.10, ammonia oxidation rates in burrow wall sediments were, on average, fivefold greater than in surface sediments. However, at all acidified pH values (pH < = 7.90), ammonia oxidation rates in burrow sediments were significantly inhibited (by 79-97%; p < 0.01), whereas rates in surface sediments were unaffected. Both bacterial and archaeal abundances increased significantly as pHT declined; by contrast, relative abundances of bacterial and archaeal ammonia oxidation (amoA) genes did not vary. This research suggests that OA could cause substantial reductions in total benthic ammonia oxidation rates in coastal bioturbated sediments, leading to corresponding changes in coupled nitrogen cycling between the benthic and pelagic realms.

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Laverock, Bonnie, Kitidis, Vassilis, Tait, Karen, Gilbert, Jack Anthony, Osborn, A M, Widdicombe, Stephen (2013). Dataset: Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification. https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835499

DOI retrieved: 2013

Additional Info

Field Value
Imported on November 29, 2024
Last update December 1, 2024
License CC-BY-3.0
Source https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.835499
Author Laverock, Bonnie
Given Name Bonnie
Family Name Laverock
More Authors
Kitidis, Vassilis
Tait, Karen
Gilbert, Jack Anthony
Osborn, A M
Widdicombe, Stephen
Source Creation 2013
Publication Year 2013
Resource Type text/tab-separated-values - filename: Laverock_2013
Subject Areas
Name: Biosphere

Name: Chemistry

Related Identifiers
Title: Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia-oxidizing microorganisms to ocean acidification
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2012.0441
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2013
Source: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B-Biological Sciences
Authors: Laverock Bonnie , Kitidis Vassilis , Tait Karen , Gilbert Jack Anthony , Osborn A M , Widdicombe Stephen , Laverock Bonnie , Kitidis Vassilis , Tait Karen , Gilbert Jack Anthony , Osborn A M , Widdicombe Stephen , Lavigne Héloïse , Epitalon Jean-Marie , Gattuso Jean-Pierre .

Title: Data from: Bioturbation determines the response of benthic ammonia oxidising microorganisms to ocean acidification
Identifier: https://doi.org/10.5061/DRYAD.B98M6
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2013
Source: Dryad Digital Repository
Authors: Laverock Bonnie , Kitidis Vassilis , Tait Karen , Gilbert Jack Anthony , Osborn A M , Widdicombe Stephen , Laverock Bonnie , Kitidis Vassilis , Tait Karen , Gilbert Jack Anthony , Osborn A M , Widdicombe Stephen , Lavigne Héloïse , Epitalon Jean-Marie , Gattuso Jean-Pierre .

Title: seacarb: seawater carbonate chemistry with R. R package version 3.0
Identifier: https://cran.r-project.org/package=seacarb
Type: DOI
Relation: References
Year: 2014
Authors: Laverock Bonnie , Kitidis Vassilis , Tait Karen , Gilbert Jack Anthony , Osborn A M , Widdicombe Stephen , Laverock Bonnie , Kitidis Vassilis , Tait Karen , Gilbert Jack Anthony , Osborn A M , Widdicombe Stephen , Lavigne Héloïse , Epitalon Jean-Marie , Gattuso Jean-Pierre .