Browsing by Author "von Dassow, Peter"

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    Abundances and morphotypes of the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi in southern Patagonia compared to neighbouring oceans and Northern Hemisphere fjords
    (COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH, 2021) Diaz Rosas, Francisco; Alves de Souza, Catharina; Alarcon, Emilio; Menschel, Eduardo; Gonzalez, Humberto E.; Torres, Rodrigo; von Dassow, Peter
    Coccolithophores are potentially affected by ongoing ocean acidification, where rising CO2 lowers seawater pH and calcite saturation state (omega(cal)). Southern Patagonian fjords and channels provide natural laboratories for studying these issues due to high variability in physical and chemical conditions. We surveyed coccolithophore assemblages in Patagonian fjords during late spring 2015 and early spring 2017. Surface omega(cal) exhibited large variations driven mostly by freshwater inputs. High-omega cal conditions (max. 3.6) occurred in the Archipelago Madre de Dios. omega(cal) ranged from 2.0-2.6 in the western Strait of Magellan and 1.5-2.2 in the inner channel and was subsaturating (0.5) in Skyring Sound. Emiliania huxleyi was the only coccolithophore widely distributed in Patagonian fjords (> 96 % of total coccolithophores), only disappearing in the Skyring Sound, a semi-closed mesohaline system. Correspondence analysis associated higher E. huxleyi biomasses with lower diatom biomasses. The highest E. huxleyi abundances in Patagonia were in the lower range of those reported in Norwegian fjords. Predominant morphotypes were distinct from those previously documented in nearby oceans but similar to those of Norwegian fjords. Moderately calcified forms of E. huxleyi A morphotype were uniformly distributed throughout Patagonia fjords. The exceptional R/hyper-calcified coccoliths, associated with low omega(cal) values in Chilean and Peruvian coastal upwellings, were a minor component associated with high omega(cal) levels in Patagonia. Outlying mean index (OMI) niche analysis suggested that pH and omega(cal) conditions explained most variation in the realized niches of E. huxleyi morphotypes. The moderately calcified A morphotype exhibited the widest niche breadth (generalist), while the R/hyper-calcified morphotype exhibited a more restricted realized niche (specialist). Nevertheless, when considering an expanded sampling domain, including nearby southeast Pacific coastal and offshore waters, even the R/hyper-calcified morphotype exhibited a higher niche breadth than other closely phylogenetically related coccolithophore species. The occurrence of E. huxleyi in naturally low pH-omega(cal) environments indicates that its ecological response is plastic and capable of adaptation.
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    CARBON ASSIMILATION IN THE COMMUNITY INHABITING THE SECONDARY CHLOROPHYLL MAXIMUM OF ANOXIC MARINE ZONES OF THE EASTERN TROPICAL PACIFIC OCEAN
    (TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2021) Aldunate, Montserrat; von Dassow, Peter; Vargas, Cristian A.; Ulloa, Osvaldo
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    Do Differences in Latitudinal Distributions of Species and Organelle Haplotypes Reflect Thermal Reaction Norms Within the Emiliania/Gephyrocapsa Complex?
    (FRONTIERS MEDIA SA, 2021) von Dassow, Peter; Munoz Farias, Paula Valentina; Pinon, Sarah; Velasco Senovilla, Esther; Anguita Salinas, Simon
    The cosmopolitan phytoplankter Emiliania huxleyi contrasts with its closest relatives that are restricted to narrower latitudinal bands, making it interesting for exploring how alternative outcomes in phytoplankton range distributions arise. Mitochondrial and chloroplast haplogroups within E. huxleyi are shared with their closest relatives: Some E. huxleyi share organelle haplogroups with Gephyrocapsa parvula and G. ericsonii which inhabit lower latitudes, while other E. huxleyi share organelle haplogroups with G. muellerae, which inhabit high latitudes. We investigated whether the phylogeny of E. huxleyi organelles reflects environmental gradients, focusing on the Southeast Pacific where the different haplogroups and species co-occur. There was a high congruence between mitochondrial and chloroplast haplogroups within E. huxleyi. Haplogroup II of E. huxleyi is negatively associated with cooler less saline waters, compared to haplogroup I, both when analyzed globally and across temporal variability at the small special scale of a center of coastal upwelling at 30 degrees S. A new mitochondrial haplogroup Ib detected in coastal Chile was associated with warmer waters. In an experiment focused on inter-species comparisons, laboratory-determined thermal reaction norms were consistent with latitudinal/thermal distributions of species, with G. oceanica exhibiting warm thermal optima and tolerance and G. muellerae exhibiting cooler thermal optima and tolerances. Emiliania huxleyi haplogroups I and II tended to exhibit a wider thermal niche compared to the other Gephyrocapsa, but no differences among haplogroups within E. huxleyi were found. A second experiment, controlling for local adaptation and time in culture, found a significant difference between E. huxleyi haplogroups. The difference between I and II was of the expected sign, but not the difference between I and Ib. The differences were small (<= 1 degrees C) compared to differences reported previously within E. huxleyi by local adaptation and even in-culture evolution. Haplogroup Ib showed a narrower thermal niche. The cosmopolitanism of E. huxleyi might result from both wide-spread generalist phenotypes and specialist phenotypes, as well as a capacity for local adaptation. Thermal reaction norm differences can well explain the species distributions but poorly explain distributions among mitochondrial haplogroups within E. huxleyi. Perhaps organelle haplogroup distributions reflect historical rather than selective processes.
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    MICROEVOLUTIONARY VARIABILITY OF A COMPLEX LIFE CYCLE IN A COSMOPOLITAN MICROALGAE
    (TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD, 2021) von Dassow, Peter; John, Uwe