Impact of climate change on production and trophic transfer of essential fatty acids in the coastal food web

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Marine food webs, which include many economically and ecologically important species, ultimately depend on energy generated by primary producers such as seaweeds (macroalgae). Algae are particularly unique as they metabolize omega-3 and omega-6 long-chain (C20) polyunsaturated fatty acids (LC-PUFA), which play essential physiological roles both in the algae themselves and in the animals that consume them. The abiotic conditions in the environment strongly impact the levels and composition of fatty acids in macroalgae. The expected climatic changes including increased temperature and levels of dissolved CO2 in the future ocean are projected to lead to a decline in essential LC-PUFA in macroalgae with flow-on effects to higher trophic levels. This project aims to deliver the first assessment of the impacts of ocean warming and ocean acidification on production and trophic transfer of the key health-benefitting LC-PUFA, in a laboratory based coastal model community.