Abstract
Tropical macroalgae serve importance ecological roles on coral reefs but can supplant corals in phase shifts as shown worldwide. Thus, it is important to understand their fundamental photophysiology and effects on calcification mechanisms. We examined organic δ13C, inorganic CaCO3 δ13C and δ18O, and organic %C, %N, C:N of abundant macroalgae on Little Cayman Island (LCI) reefs across a broad light gradient (5–2,000 μmol photons m−2 s−1). We hypothesized that LCI macroalgae utilize greater CO2 in low light environments as carbon concentration mechanisms (CCMs) to take up HCO3− have high energetic costs. We proposed that calcification mechanisms are also influenced by light and Ci-use strategies. LCI macroalgae had organic δ13C values (-12‰ to -25‰) indicative of CCMs and exhibited only a 1–3‰ δ13C depletion under irradiances < 5 μmol photons m−2 s−1. Light and phyla were significant in a mixed model explaining ~ 80% of variance in organic δ13C. Organic δ13C was a weak predictor and light insignificant in explaining inorganic δ13C values of thalli carbonates. Biogenic carbonate δ13C values were taxa-specific based on cluster analysis of δ13C:δd18O ratios, an indication of diverse calcification mechanisms. LCI macroalgal photosynthesis utilized CCMs across a broad range of irradiances, thus greater CO2 availability under ocean acidification is not likely to enhance community dominance of macroalgae of concern (e.g., Lobophora sp.) due to shifts in photophysiology. The mechanisms of Ci sequestration for photosynthesis appeared to be mostly uncoupled from calcification mechanisms that were diverse across phyla, likely due to distinct macroalgal forms, sites of calcification and carbonate structure.
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Data availability
The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
Graduate (Regina Zweng) and undergraduate (Steven Olayon) students are thanked for their efforts in collecting/processing samples in the FAU lab and Cayman Island Marine Conservation Board and Department of the Environment for permitting our LCI research. We thank captain Jon Clamp for field support and the staff at LCI for assistance working at the Central Caribbean Research Station. Two anonymous reviewers and discussions with Peter Swart significantly improved the manuscript, and we are grateful for their time and effort.
Funding
This research was funded by the National Science Foundation Ocean Acidification Program-CRI-OA Grant #1416376.
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All authors assisted in data collection, reviewing the manuscript.
Conall McNicholl—processed samples.
Carrie Manfrino—coordinated field collection at LCI.
Brian Lapointe—analyzed nutrient samples.
Marguerite Koch—coordinated the project, developed hypotheses, and wrote the manuscript.
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Koch, M.S., McNicholl, C., Manfrino, C. et al. Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes indicate photophysiology and calcification mechanisms of macroalgae on Little Cayman Island reefs. J Appl Phycol 36, 1023–1033 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03079-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-023-03079-9