TY - JOUR
T1 - Changes in microbial communities in coastal sediments along natural CO2 gradients at a volcanic vent in Papua New Guinea
AU - Raulf, Felix F.
AU - Fabricius, Katharina
AU - Uthicke, Sven
AU - de Beer, Dirk
AU - Abed, Raeid M.M.
AU - Ramette, Alban
N1 - Funding Information:
We thank the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) for funding the field work, the owners of the Upa-Upasina, Dobu and Esa'Ala reefs for allowing us to study their reefs, and the crew and Captain of the Chertan (Milton Bay Enterprises). We also thank the Dobu RLLG, the Milne Bay Province Research Committee, and the Department of Environment and Conservation of Papua New Guinea for delivering permits and for the logistic support. The study was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft and the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in the framework of the BIOACID project, and by the Max Planck Society.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2014 The Authors. Environmental Microbiology published by Society for Applied Microbiology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
PY - 2015/10/1
Y1 - 2015/10/1
N2 - Natural CO2 venting systems can mimic conditions that resemble intermediate to high pCO2 levels as predicted for our future oceans. They represent ideal sites to investigate potential long-term effects of ocean acidification on marine life. To test whether microbes are affected by prolonged exposure to pCO2 levels, we examined the composition and diversity of microbial communities in oxic sandy sediments along a natural CO2 gradient. Increasing pCO2 was accompanied by higher bacterial richness and by a strong increase in rare members in both bacterial and archaeal communities. Microbial communities from sites with CO2 concentrations close to today's conditions had different structures than those of sites with elevated CO2 levels. We also observed increasing sequence abundance of several organic matter degrading types of Flavobacteriaceae and Rhodobacteraceae, which paralleled concurrent shifts in benthic cover and enhanced primary productivity. With increasing pCO2, sequences related to bacterial nitrifying organisms such as Nitrosococcus and Nitrospirales decreased, and sequences affiliated to the archaeal ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota Nitrosopumilus maritimus increased. Our study suggests that microbial community structure and diversity, and likely key ecosystem functions, may be altered in coastal sediments by long-term CO2 exposure to levels predicted for the end of the century.
AB - Natural CO2 venting systems can mimic conditions that resemble intermediate to high pCO2 levels as predicted for our future oceans. They represent ideal sites to investigate potential long-term effects of ocean acidification on marine life. To test whether microbes are affected by prolonged exposure to pCO2 levels, we examined the composition and diversity of microbial communities in oxic sandy sediments along a natural CO2 gradient. Increasing pCO2 was accompanied by higher bacterial richness and by a strong increase in rare members in both bacterial and archaeal communities. Microbial communities from sites with CO2 concentrations close to today's conditions had different structures than those of sites with elevated CO2 levels. We also observed increasing sequence abundance of several organic matter degrading types of Flavobacteriaceae and Rhodobacteraceae, which paralleled concurrent shifts in benthic cover and enhanced primary productivity. With increasing pCO2, sequences related to bacterial nitrifying organisms such as Nitrosococcus and Nitrospirales decreased, and sequences affiliated to the archaeal ammonia-oxidizing Thaumarchaeota Nitrosopumilus maritimus increased. Our study suggests that microbial community structure and diversity, and likely key ecosystem functions, may be altered in coastal sediments by long-term CO2 exposure to levels predicted for the end of the century.
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U2 - 10.1111/1462-2920.12729
DO - 10.1111/1462-2920.12729
M3 - Article
C2 - 25471738
AN - SCOPUS:85027940458
SN - 1462-2912
VL - 17
SP - 3678
EP - 3691
JO - Environmental Microbiology
JF - Environmental Microbiology
IS - 10
ER -