The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Electronic Theses and Dissertations Fogler Library Winter 12-27-2018 Effects of Increasing Temperature and Acidification on the Growth and Competitive Success of Alexandrium Catenella from the Gulf of Maine Drajad Seto University of Maine, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd Part of the Environmental Sciences Commons, and the Marine Biology Commons Recommended Citation Seto, Drajad, "Effects of Increasing Temperature and Acidification on the Growth and Competitive Success of Alexandrium Catenella from the Gulf of Maine" (2018). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3006. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/etd/3006 This Open-Access Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EFFECTS OF INCREASING TEMPERATURE AND ACIDIFICATION ON THE GROWTH AND COMPETITIVE SUCCESS OF ALEXANDRIUM CATENELLA FROM THE GULF OF MAINE By Drajad Seto S.Pi. Universitas Gadjah Mada, 2014 A THESIS Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (in Marine Biology) The Graduate School The University of Maine December 2018 Advisory Committee: Mark L. Wells, Professor of Oceanography, Co-Advisor Lee Karp-Boss, Associate Professor of Oceanography, Co-Advisor David W. Townsend, Professor of Oceanography Lawrence M. Mayer, Professor of Oceanography EFFECTS OF INCREASING TEMPERATURE AND ACIDIFICATION ON THE GROWTH AND COMPETITIVE SUCCESS OF ALEXANDRIUM CATENELLA FROM THE GULF OF MAINE By Drajad S. Seto Thesis Advisors: Dr. Mark Wells & Dr. Lee Karp-Boss An Abstract of the Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science (in Marine Biology) December 2018 The increases in ocean temperature and pCO2 due to climate change are projected to affect the growth and future prevalence of Harmful Algal Blooms (HABs) in nearshore waters, but systematic studies on the effects these climate drivers have on harmful algal species are lacking. In particular, little is known about how future climate scenarios will affect the growth of the toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella, which produces the toxins responsible for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) that threaten the health and economy of coastal communities in the Gulf of Maine. I examined growth responses of A. catenella and two other naturally co-occurring dinoflagellates from Gulf of Maine— Scrippsiella sp., and Amphidinium carterae— in mono and mixed species cultures. Experimental treatments included elevated temperature, lower pH, and the combination of elevated temperature and lower pH as projected for the year 2100 (20°C; pH 7.8), relative to current conditions (15.5°C; pH 8.1). Results show decreased growth rates of A. catenella under elevated temperature and lower pH, and that the decreased in growth rate was largely attributable to the effect of temperature. In contrast, the growth rates of Scrippsiella sp. and A. carterae increased under elevated temperature and lower pH conditions, with temperature being the primary driver of the response. These trends did not change substantially when these species were grown in mixed cultures (A. catenella + Scrippsiella sp., and A. catenella + A. carterae), indicating that allelopathic or competitive interactions did not affect the experimental outcome under the conditions tested. These findings suggest that A. catenella blooms will become less prevalent in the Gulf of Maine with continued climate change, shifting instead to a dominance by other dinoflagellate species. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First of all, I would like to thank everyone who helped me in completing this thesis and who helped me in other academic stuff. To Mark Wells and Lee Karp-Boss, I am very grateful to have both of you as my advisors. I can't say anything but thanks for your dedication, support, and patience in mentoring me during my master's study here. To my committee members, David Townsend and Lawrence Mayer, thank you for your valuable suggestions and comments on my thesis research and writing. Both of you are my inspiration for becoming a scientist. I would like to thank Nils Haentjens for helping me run the Imaging FlowCytoot and using his code in MATLAB software, to Lee's lab (past) students, especially to Grace Weise and Stephanie Ayres who taught me how to culture phytoplankton and make media, to Maura Thomas who helped me analyzing the concentration of nutrients in some of my cultures, to Susan Brawley who gave me constructive comments on my research, and to Susanne Thibodeau, Jodie Feero and Carrie Love for their assistance in administration and ordering my experimental material. I would like to acknowledge the United States Agency for International Development- Prestasi program, I would not be here without their financial support. Many thanks to the Institute of International Education staff, especially James Brady, Jumana Kamal, Lidia Awad, and Jeniece Carter for distributing and organizing my monthly allowances, travel conferences, study extension, and other things that I cannot mention one by one. Thank you to the staff of the Indonesian International Education Foundation, especially Randall Martin, Debby Gultom, Krystina Mitayani, Antje Mariana, and Nurwening, and others for the study and administrative preparation before coming to the US. To all of my friends, especially Bayu Broto, Bryce Risley, Kimberly D'Adamo, Faith Hoyle, Gretchen Spencer, Kyle C., Alejandro Moctezuma, Juliana Tavora, Andre Bucci, Kristopher Reed, Dongyan Han, Xu Luoliang, Emily Nocito, Anama Solofa, Shuling Chen, Kimberly Ovits, Ehsan ii Tabatabaie, Kevin Job, Fedrian Dinal, Zarni Chanapatdaychaporn, Prita Novita, Heva Yumi, Betsy Barber, Andrew O’Malley, Kamaluddin Kasim, Lody Maturbongs, Rika Dewi, Dimas Samudra, Emily Wright, Anggita Paramesti, Irma Nurlia, Adriana Rahajeng, Danis Sriwijaya, Sri Cholidah, Heny Windarti, and my English tutor, Eric Arnold, I am very grateful for their extraordinary support. I am especially indebted to Noer Kasanah, principal investigator in the research group of marine biotechnology Universitas Gadjah Mada, who has inspired and supported me to pursue my education in the United States and also provided training during my work in the research group. I also would like to thank the former and present members of the group for their moral support, especially Wisnu Adhi Susila, Muhammad Akbar, Maria Ulfah, Aditya Aryandi, Chandra Pradhita, Husnul Katimah, Ajeng Novitasari, Aji Nugroho, Adhika Agra, Bagash Kurniadi, Taufik, and Setiadi. I would like to thank Happy Hartana, the leader of Purna Caraka Muda Indonesia organization and Djumato, my former undergraduate thesis advisor, who supported me for applying USAID-Prestasi scholarship, and to my former undergraduate academic advisor Retno Widaningroem, who gave me valuable advice to study abroad. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Pulunggono and Rini Dorojati, my brother Akhmad Gerri Sarwo Edi, my sister Puri Sarwo Kusumawati, and all of the big family of Kasbullah for their tremendous support and love. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .............................................................................................................. ii LIST OF TABLES ......................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................................... vii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .....................................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 OBJECTIVES AND HYPOTHESIS .........................................................................7 CHAPTER 3 MATERIAL & METHODS ......................................................................................9 Culture conditions .................................................................................................................9 Growth rate measurements .................................................................................................11 Effect of temperature and pH – mono culture experiments ................................................13 Effect of temperature and pH – mixed culture experiments ...............................................14 Cell size measurement ........................................................................................................15 Statistical analysis ...............................................................................................................15 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS ................................................................................................................16 Mono culture experiments ...................................................................................................15 Mixed culture experiments ..................................................................................................21 Effect of elevated temperature and acidified on cell size ...................................................25 CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION ..........................................................................................................27 CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION........................................................................................................38