Ancient Algae Show How Climate Change Affects Today's Organisms

Ancient algae, which managed to survive and adapt to climate change millions of years ago, are showing scientists how this phenomenon may impact today's organisms dealing with a warming world, according to new research.

The algae in question are coccolithophores, single-celled plankton that have lived in Earth's oceans for millions of years. They may be microscopic in size, but they play an essential role in marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle.

Considering that temperatures are increasing and ocean acidification is a problem currently wreaking havoc on many marine organisms, understanding how these key contributors are affected is crucial.

About 56 million years ago, during what is known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the Earth likewise experienced climate warming and ocean acidification. This affected the growth and skeleton structure of coccolithophores, which are made out of calcium.

"Our results show that climate change significantly altered coccolithophore calcification rates at the PETM and has the potential to be just as significant, perhaps even more so, today," lead author Dr. Sarah O'Dea at the University of Southampton said in a statement.

Already we are seeing the affects of ocean acidification, for example diminishing Great Barrier Reef corals, robbing sharks of their predatory senses, and hindering sea stars and other calcifiers in their ability to store calcium carbonate, which is vital in forming their protective skeletons.

In the study, researchers studied two key PETM coccolithophores: Coccolithus pelagicus and Toweius pertusus, both of which are directly related to species that dominate the modern ocean.

They found that during the PETM warming period, calcification rates of C. pelagicus and T. pertusus were cut in half, as environmental changes thwarted their ability to grow. Interestingly, ocean acidification showed no impact, besides the slight thinning of C. pelagicus coccoliths.

"Ultimately then, it is the factors that influence where species live, their abundance, how fast they grow and their ability to adapt to environmental change that is likely to control future coccolithophore calcite production," O'Dea added.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

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