Composition and Dominance of Edible and Inedible Phytoplankton Predict Responses of Baltic Sea Summer Communities to Elevated Temperature and CO2

Previous studies with Baltic Sea phytoplankton combining elevated seawater temperature with CO2 revealed the importance of size trait-based analyses, in particular dividing the plankton into edible (> 5 and < 100 mu m) and inedible (100 mu m) size classes for mesozoopankton grazers. While the edible phytoplankton responded predominantly negative to warming and the inedible group stayed unaffected or increased, independent from edibility most phytoplankton groups gained from CO2. Because the ratio between edible and inedible taxa changes profoundly over seasons, we investigated if community responses can be predicted according to the prevailing composition of edible and inedible groups. We experimentally explored the combined effects of elevated temperatures and CO2 concentrations on a late-summer Baltic Sea community. Total phytoplankton significantly increased in response to elevated CO2 in particular in combination with temperature, driven by a significant gain of the inedible < 5 mu m fraction and large filamentous cyanobacteria. Large flagellates disappeared. The edible group was low as usual in summer and decreased with both factors due to enhanced copepod grazing and overall decline of small flagellates. Our results emphasize that the responses of summer communities are complex, but can be predicted by the composition and dominance of size classes and groups.

Automated summary

This study investigated the response of Baltic Sea phytoplankton to elevated seawater temperature and CO2 concentrations. Results showed that total phytoplankton significantly increased with elevated CO2, driven by the increase in the inedible < 5 μm fraction and large filamentous cyanobacteria. The edible fraction was low in summer and decreased due to enhanced copepod grazing and decline of small flagellates.