Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Future4Oceans (Window to the future: Understanding and assessing the vulnerability of marine biodiversity to ocean acidification)

Teaser

Future4Ocean (Understanding and assessing the vulnerability of marine biodiversity to ocean acidification), was funded by a H2020-MSCA Global Fellowship under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (GA No. 702628), focused on the effects of ocean...

Summary

Future4Ocean (Understanding and assessing the vulnerability of marine biodiversity to ocean acidification), was funded by a H2020-MSCA Global Fellowship under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (GA No. 702628), focused on the effects of ocean acidification (OA) to the diversity and function of marine ecosystems, as well as the services they provide to society. Examples of ecosystem services and ocean-related human activities that are predicted to be negatively impacted are: earth-system regulating processes; ocean carbon uptake; coastal protection; fisheries for food provision and livelihoods; aquaculture; tourism and cultural services; and human health and security.

Most of the experiments to date on OA have consisted of short- to medium- timescale laboratory studies of single species exposed in isolation to OA. Consequently, our understanding and ability to predict the impacts of OA at the community and ecosystem levels are extremely limited. In order to address this research gap, Future4Oceans fellowship integrated four aims: 1) identifying emergent effects of OA on coastal marine ecosystems and their functioning; 2) assessing the effects of OA in the context of multiple-stressors; 3) defining the role of acclimation/adaptation in determining responses to OA; and 4) communicating OA impacts to the public and policy makers with virtual reality. These natural CO2 vents provide a powerful field system to test the speed and extent of coral acclimation and adaptation to OA. To achieve these objectives, the MSCA Fellowship Future4Oceans created a multi-disciplinary consortium with the participation of top scientists from European and USA institutions with skills in marine ecology, genomics, biogeochemistry, knowledge communication.

The conclusions of Future4Oceans are: 1) The use of functional traits provided critical insights into the emergent ecological consequences of OA for marine communities and link changes in structure to potential effects on ecological function. This is critical to better comprehend the generalities of the vulnerability of marine benthic communities under ongoing and predicted global environmental changes. 2) Under local adaptation, native genotypes will have higher fitness than any other foreign genotypes in the considered environment. Based on that, our results suggest that acidified genotypes better cope with OA through phenotypic plasticity or local adaptation. 3) Virtual Reality films are of high impact, quality, and innovative platform for communication and outreach purposes.

Work performed

The MSCA Fellowhip Future4Oceans lasted 2 years (2016-2018) and comprised the outgoing phase at Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University (USA, Partner organization). In addition, field surveys were conducted at the CO2 vents along the coast off Ischia (Italy), with permanent communication and contact with the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn (Beneficiary).

Our project combined field sampling and experimental research (WP1), Analysis and Synthesis of data (WP2), Dissemination of results (WP3) and Management (WP4). Field surveys were performed during 2017 and 2018 at the CO2 vents along the coast of Ischia (Italy). We investigated the effect of natural CO2 vents to benthic communities and the role of acclimation/adaptation in determining responses to OA with the coral Astroides calycularis. Field surveys were done at the CO2 vents, as well as nearby reference areas with normal pH. The environmental conditions at the CO2 vents represent different atmospheric scenarios for the 21st century predicted by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. We conducted intensive field surveys to characterize the physical and chemical variability of these systems. We deployed in situ sensors coupled with discrete water samples for carbonate chemistry analyses. The overall impact of acidification to benthic communities was assessed by using in situ visual census techniques and photographic surveys. Species and % cover data was analyzed by using a trait-functional approach. This approach provides new insights into the mechanisms of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning. For the role of acclimation/adaptation, we performed a reciprocal transplant experiments over one year. We transplanted coral colonies of A. calycularis reciprocally from their native locations in the acidified and 2 pH normal sites. We measured differences in coral size, physiology (e.g. necrosis of coral tissue, mineralogy, porosity of skeleton and fecundity) and gene expression by taking digital images of colonies and collecting 5 transplanted colonies from each site. The molecular responses were measured using next generation sequencing technology. This technique allows us to have an overview of the whole transcriptomic response of coral to ocean acidification. We estimated gene expression and genetic variation of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs).

We have disseminated our results to a wide range of different audience and nationalities. Academically, we have presented our work at the host (Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Italy) and partner institutions (Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University, USA) as well as at other academic institutions such as Institute of Marine Sciences of Barcelona (ICM-CSIC, Spain). During the fellowship, we have presented our results at the Gordon Research Conference (Ocean Global Change Biology, Waterville Valley, USA, 2018) and at the EuroScience Open Forum (Toulouse, France, 2018). We have published one peer-reviewed research article at the open access Nature Communications journal with codes and data available on-line (2018). We have four research articles currently in preparation. In addition, we have disseminated our findings by writing in social media (Twitter), “Behind the Paper” channel (a community from Nature Research), newsletters of the OA-International Coordination Center, and news at Stanford University together with the Stanford Center for Oceans Solutions. In addition, virtual reality films will be exhibited during the “2019 Monaco Ocean Week” at the Monaco Museum to communicate OA impacts to the general public.

Final results

We contributed a novel functional diversity analysis of marine communities at natural CO2 vents to link change in functional composition and diversity to ocean acidification. It is the first time that this approach and concepts have been applied to marine benthic communities to assess the effects of ocean acidification on ecosystem functional characteristics. It provides valuable information to assess the impacts of climate for the oceans and their ecosystems and the critical services they provide to people, with more direct and mechanistic comprehension of biodiversity effects on ecosystem functioning and process. It

We have disseminated our findings to people working in the field and marketing through training events (Summer courses, workshops) and online materials. Virtual reality films of this research will be exhibited during the “2019 Monaco Ocean Week” at the Monaco Museum to communicate OA impacts to the general public, thus reaching to a large audience. Work on this project has been granted by the French research project “Make Our Planet Great Again”. The MSCA research fellow has been selected as Laureate to continue and expand this research in France.