Climate Change: 1998 Publications

Author: Beardall, J., Beer, S., and Raven, J.A.
Title: Biodiversity of marine plants in an era of climate change: Some predictions based on physiological performance.
Publication: Botanica Marina 41(1):113-123, 1998.
© Walter de Gruyer & Co.

Notes : There are too few data to allow any confident statements on the effects of global climate change on the diversity of marine plant life. However, on the basis of information available in the literature, it is possible to make predictions about the physiological responses of plants under situations of anticipated increases in CO2 concentrations, temperature and UV-B fluxes and point out how differences in the responses of major marine plant groups might lead to changes in performance and distribution of these organisms. For instance we may predict that macrophytes such as seagrasses will show enhanced photosynthetic rates and growth as atmospheric CO2 levels continue to rise whilst many intertidal macroalgae are already at CO2 saturation and may not show any enhanced performance as CO2 increases. Decreasing ozone concentrations in the stratosphere will lead to enhanced UV-B fluxes and could consequently favour those species with UV tolerance or repair mechanisms. It has been suggested that interactions between temperature range and photoperiod can be responsible for excluding species from particular regions of the world's oceans. Other species might be affected in this way as temperatures at a given latitude change. Temperature will also influence the relationship between atmospheric and dissolved CO2 and the proportions of the various components of dissolved inorganic carbon available for growth. Climate change may well have other effects on the efficiency with which marine plants use other resources such as N, Fe or Zn and these will also be discussed.