Nutrients influence the thermal ecophysiology of an intertidal macroalga: multiple stressors or multiple drivers?

Urbanization of coastlines is leading to increased introduction of nutrients from the terrestrial environment to nearshore habitats. While such nutrient influxes can be detrimental to coastal marine organisms due to increased eutrophication and subsequent reduced oxygen, they could also have positive effects (i.e., increased food availability) on species that are nitrogen-limited such as macroalgae. Nutrient enrichment in this environment thus has the potential to counteract some of the negative impacts of increasing temperatures, at least for some species. Characterizing the physiological response of organisms to simultaneous changes in multiple drivers such as these is an important first step in predicting how global climate change may lead to ecological responses at more local levels. We evaluated how nutrient enrichment (i.e., nitrogen availability) affected the growth of Fucus vesiculosus, a foundational macroalgal species in the North Atlantic rocky intertidal zone, and found that...海岸线城市化进程正推动陆地环境中的营养物质更多地向近岸生境输入。此类营养输入会因富营养化加剧及后续溶氧降低，对沿海海洋生物产生不利影响；但同时也可为氮限制物种（如大型藻类（macroalgae））带来积极效应，例如提升食物可获得性。因此，该环境中的营养富集有可能缓解升温带来的部分负面影响，至少对部分物种而言如此。阐明生物体对这类多重驱动因子同时变化的生理响应，是预测全球气候变化如何在更局部尺度上引发生态响应的重要第一步。本研究评估了营养富集（即氮素可获得性）对北大西洋岩石潮间带建群大型藻类物种墨角藻（Fucus vesiculosus）生长的影响，并发现……