Journal article
Ascidians increase in abundance on tropicalized reefs and may enhance benthic nitrous oxide production
Limnology and oceanography, Vol.First online, pp.1-14
02/08/2025
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Abstract
Nitrous oxide (N 2 O) is an ozone‐depleting greenhouse gas that has a global warming potential nearly 300 times greater than carbon dioxide. Although the oceans contribute about 21% of atmospheric global N 2 O emissions, we know relatively little about N 2 O dynamics in nearshore systems. Here, we document the fourfold increase in the abundance of a large N 2 O‐producing invertebrate ( Herdmania grandis ) over two decades in eastern Australia. This increase occurred in warming subtropical reefs that were previously dominated by carbon‐capturing kelp but have since become tropicalized as warm‐affinity species expand their ranges poleward. Temperature manipulation experiments demonstrated that Herdmania produces higher levels of N 2 O under current summer conditions (25°C) compared to winter (18°C). However, further warming to 28°C resulted in intermediate N 2 O production rates, which did not differ significantly from either summer or winter values, indicating that a threshold for temperature‐driven N 2 O production may have been reached. By integrating N 2 O production rates with Herdmania field density data and coastal bathymetry, we estimate that subtropical reefs may already be producing more N 2 O than adjacent estuaries. Our findings suggest that warming reefs, transitioning from carbon‐capturing kelp forests to N 2 O‐producing ascidian‐dominated reefs, could significantly alter coastal greenhouse gas budgets.
Details
- Title
- Ascidians increase in abundance on tropicalized reefs and may enhance benthic nitrous oxide production
- Creators
- Zuhairah Dindar - Sydney Institute of Marine ScienceDirk V. Erler - Southern Cross UniversityStephanie G. Gardner - UNSW SydneyHamish A. Malcolm - New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (Coffs Harbour)Michael Sutherland - UNSW SydneyAdriana Vergés - UNSW Sydney
- Publication Details
- Limnology and oceanography, Vol.First online, pp.1-14
- Publisher
- Wiley Periodicals LLC; HOBOKEN
- Grant note
- This project was funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Projects DP19102030 and a NSW Environmental Trust grant (both awarded to Adriana Vergés).
- Identifiers
- 991013304524202368
- Copyright
- © 2025 The Author(s). Limnology and Oceanography published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes.
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Science and Engineering; Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article