Intraspecific Adaptations to Thermal Gradients in a Cosmopolitan Coccolithophore

Paul G Matson, University of California Santa Barbara, Marine Science Institute, Santa Barbara, CA, United States, Tanika Marie Ladd, University of California Santa Barbara, Interdepartmental Graduate Program in Marine Science, Santa Barbara, CA, United States and Debora Iglesias-Rodriguez, University of California Santa Barbara, Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, Santa Barbara, CA, United States
Abstract:
The species concept in marine phytoplankton has enormous biological complexity. Differences in genomic, morphological, physiological, biogeochemical, and ecological/biogeographic properties between strains of the same species can be comparable or even exceed those between species. This complexity is particularly pronounced in the cosmopolitan coccolithophore species Emiliania huxleyi. This bloom-forming species is found at nearly every latitude in a variety of environments including upwelling regions, and exposed to large temperature gradients. We present results from experiments using two strains of E. huxleyi isolated from different latitudes and environmental conditions. Tests involved semi-continuous culturing in lab manipulation experiments to determine how carbon fixation, growth, and morphology respond to temperature-driven alterations in physico-chemical conditions. This talk will discuss the observed differences in physiology within an ecological context and the implications of these biogeochemical differences in modeling carbon fluxes driven by phytoplankton.
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