Feeding in mixoplankton enhances phototrophy increasing bloom-induced pH changes with ocean acidification

Flynn, Kevin J. and Mitra, Aditee ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5572-9331 2023. Feeding in mixoplankton enhances phototrophy increasing bloom-induced pH changes with ocean acidification. Journal of Plankton Research 45 (4) , 636–651. 10.1093/plankt/fbad030

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Abstract

Plankton phototrophy consumes CO2, increasing seawater pH, while heterotrophy does the converse. Elevation of pH (>8.5) during coastal blooms becomes increasingly deleterious for plankton. Mixoplankton, which can be important bloom-formers, engage in both photoautotrophy and phagoheterotrophy; in theory, this activity could create a relatively stable pH environment for plankton growth. Using a systems biology modelling approach, we explored whether different mixoplankton functional groups could modulate the environmental pH compared to the extreme activities of phototrophic phytoplankton and heterotrophic zooplankton. Activities by most mixoplankton groups do not stabilize seawater pH. Through access to additional nutrient streams from internal recycling with phagotrophy, mixoplankton phototrophy is enhanced, elevating pH; this is especially so for constitutive and plastidic specialist non-constitutive mixoplankton. Mixoplankton blooms can exceed the size of phytoplankton blooms; the synergisms of mixoplankton physiology, accessing nutrition via phagotrophy as well as from inorganic sources, enhance or augment primary production rather than depressing it. Ocean acidification will thus enable larger coastal mixoplankton blooms to form before basification becomes detrimental. The dynamics of such bloom developments will depend on whether the mixoplankton are consuming heterotrophs and/or phototrophs and how the plankton community succession evolves.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0142-7873
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	31 July 2023
Date of Acceptance:	28 May 2023
Last Modified:	01 Aug 2023 19:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/161358

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