Copper pollution exacerbates the effects of ocean acidification and warming on kelp microscopic early life stages.

ABSTRACT: Ocean warming (OW), ocean acidification (OA) and their interaction with local drivers, e.g., copper pollution, may negatively affect macroalgae and their microscopic life stages. We evaluated meiospore development of the kelps Macrocystis pyrifera and Undaria pinnatifida exposed to a factorial combination of current and 2100-predicted temperature (12 and 16 °C, respectively), pH (8.16 and 7.65, respectively), and two copper levels (no-added-copper and species-specific germination Cu-EC₅₀). Meiospore germination for both species declined by 5-18% under OA and ambient temperature/OA conditions, irrespective of copper exposure. Germling growth rate declined by >40%·day^-1, and gametophyte development was inhibited under Cu-EC₅₀ exposure, compared to the no-adde

SUBMITTER: Leal PP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6170414 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature