EPOCA/EUR-OCEANS data compilation on the effects of ocean acidification, 2011

The uptake of anthropogenic CO2 by the oceans has led to a rise in the oceanic partial pressure of CO2, and to a decrease in pH and carbonate ion concentration. This modification of the marine carbonate system is referred to as ocean acidification. Numerous papers report the effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms and communities but few have provided details concerning full carbonate chemistry and complementary observations. Additionally, carbonate system variables are often reported in different units, calculated using different sets of dissociation constants and on different pH scales. Hence the direct comparison of experimental results has been problematic and often misleading. The need was identified to (1) gather data on carbonate chemistry, biological and biogeochemical properties, and other ancillary data from published experimental data, (2) transform the information into common framework, and (3) make data freely available. The present paper is the outcome of an effort to integrate ocean carbonate chemistry data from the literature which has been supported by the European Network of Excellence for Ocean Ecosystems Analysis (EUR-OCEANS) and the European Project on Ocean Acidification (EPOCA). A total of 185 papers were identified, 100 contained enough information to readily compute carbonate chemistry variables, and 81 data sets were archived at PANGAEA - The Publishing Network for Geoscientific & Environmental Data. This data compilation is regularly updated as an ongoing mission of EPOCA.

Data compilation of dinoflagellates growth rate, grazing rate and gross gowth efficiency from field and labratory experiments

The present data compilation includes dinoflagellates growth rate, grazing rate and gross growth efficiency determined either in the field or in laboratory experiments. From the existing literature, we synthesized all data that we could find on dinoflagellates. Some sources might be missing but none were purposefully ignored. We did not include autotrophic dinoflagellates in the database, but mixotrophic organisms may have been included. This is due to the large uncertainty about which taxa are mixotrophic, heterotrophic or symbiont bearing. Field data on microzooplankton grazing are mostly comprised of grazing rate using the dilution technique with a 24h incubation period. Laboratory grazing and growth data are focused on pelagic ciliates and heterotrophic dinoflagellates. The experiment measured grazing or growth as a function of prey concentration or at saturating prey concentration (maximal grazing rate). When considering every single data point available (each measured rate for a defined predator-prey pair and a certain prey concentration) there is a total of 801 data points for the dinoflagellates, counting experiments that measured growth and grazing simultaneously as 1 data point.