Ocean Acidification

Abstract

Selection of optimal habitat by larvae of sessile organism is influenced by cues offered by the biofilm. Ocean warming and acidification are likely to enforce changes in the biofilm community and inturn influence the settlement process. Hence, we evaluated the influence of biofilm (multispecies and unialgal) and diet-mediated changes on the settlement of Balanus amphitrite cyprids (presettlement non-feeding larval stage) under different combinations of temperature (28, 30, 32 and 34 °C), pCO₂ (400, 750 and 1500 μatm) and nutrient (unenriched and f/2 enriched). Nutrient enrichment enhanced the diatom and bacterial abundance at ambient temperature (30 °C) and pCO₂ (400 μatm), which inturn increased larval settlement. Elevated pCO₂ (750 and 1500 μatm) had no direct effect but a variable cascading effect on the settlement via biofilm-mediated changes was observed, depending on the type of biofilm. In contrast, elevated temperature (32 and 34 °C), either individually or in combination with elevated pCO₂ had direct negative effect on settlement. However, biofilm-mediated changes compensated this negative effect. The larval settlement was also influenced by changes in the larval diet. Under elevated temperature and pCO₂, cyprids raised with a feed (Chaetoceros calcitrans) from ambient temperature and pCO₂ were of poor quality (lower RNA:DNA ratio, lower protein synthetic capacity) and yielded lower settlement. However, cyprids raised with a feed from elevated temperature and pCO₂ were of better quality (higher RNA:DNA ratio, higher protein synthetic capacity) and yielded higher settlement. Overall, the observations from the present study provide insights into the significance of biotic interactions on the coastal biofouling communities under future climatic scenario and emphasise the need for future experiments on these aspects.