Impacts of ocean acidification (OA) on phytoplankton productivity, survival, community structure, nutritional quality and trophic transfer efficiency to zooplankton

Phytoplankton, the foundation of marine ecosystems, are increasingly subjected to ocean acidification (OA). To understand the impacts of OA on the St. Lawrence Estuary and Gulf (SLEG), this project investigated the physiological responses of phytoplankton to elevated carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. Specifically, we submitted a natural population of phytoplankton collected in the Estuary to a decreasing gradient of pH (from 8.1 to 7.2) and measured key biogeochemical parameters such as chlorophyll-a (chl-a), nutrients, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC), total alkalinity (TA), pH, essential fatty acids (EFAs), bacterial abundance, and genetics (RNA transcriptomics). The sampling was conducted during a 14 day laboratory experiment at the Maurice Lamontagne Institute during summer 2024. By combining controlled mesocosm experiments with metatranscriptomics, we aimed to identify critical thresholds for OA impacts on phytoplankton growth, community composition, and nutritional quality. The dataset includes several inorganic carbon state variables, phytoplankton- and bacterial-associated variables, nutrient concentrations, as well as gene expression analysis data. To ensure the highest…

Publisher

Fisheries and Oceans Canada

Resources

2

Catalogue metadata updated

2026-03-24