Effects of ocean warming and pollution on Sargassum forests

The combined effects of climate change and ocean pollution have resulted in a noteworthy decline of canopy-forming species, impacting marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning significantly. In this context, Sargassum cymosum, which is widely distributed along the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, se...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Marine environmental research 2023-10, Vol.191, p.106167-106167, Article 106167
Main Authors: Peres, Letícia M. Costa, Gouvêa, Lidiane P., Hayden, Juliana, Burle, Giulia, Bastos, Eduardo, Carneiro, Alessandra, Horta, Paulo A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Atlantic Ocean
Biomass
Climate Change
Ecosystem
Forests
Growth rates
Ocean warming
Pollution
Sargassum
Sargassum cymosum
Tropical province
Warm temperate province
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Summary:The combined effects of climate change and ocean pollution have resulted in a noteworthy decline of canopy-forming species, impacting marine biodiversity and ecosystem functioning significantly. In this context, Sargassum cymosum, which is widely distributed along the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, serves as an excellent model among canopy-forming species to investigate these impacts on populations in different regions and environmental conditions. Here, we evaluate the ecophysiological responses of two populations of S. cymosum, from Florianopolis (warm-temperate province; WTP) and Fernando de Noronha (tropical province, TP), through of interaction of temperatures and nutrient concentrations, representing marine heatwaves and acute pollution levels. Our findings revealed a decrease in biomass in both populations, highlighting the significance of nutrient enrichment as an anthropogenic filter that might potentially inhibit the expansion of the populations from tropical regions and temperature for WTP ones. These stressors directly impacted the physiological performance of S. cymosum populations, including relative growth rates, photosynthesis, chlorophylls, carotenoids and phenolic compound levels. Although there was an increase in both parameters for the TP population, a significant loss of biomass was observed, with growth rates reaching −1.5% per day. Our results highlight the need for urgent actions to manage the eutrophication process due to its negative association with global warming, which can enhance the impacts and preclude the settlement and survival of Sargassum in warm-temperate areas considering the observed and predicted tropicalization process. •Climate change and ocean pollution can pose significant barriers to species establishment and survival.•S. cymosum populations from tropical and warm-temperate regions were evaluated under different temperatures and nutrients.•Nutrient enrichment acted as a filter for tropical population growth and temperature for warm temperate ones.
ISSN:0141-1136
1879-0291
DOI:10.1016/j.marenvres.2023.106167