Abstract
Caffeine is present in coastal environments worldwide and there is a need to assess its impact on marine organisms. Here, we exposed two species of ecologically important marine macroalgae (Chondrus crispus and Codium fragile subsp. fragile) to a suite of caffeine concentrations and measured their response. Caffeine concentrations of 10–100 ng L−1 had no significant effect on the growth rate or photosynthetic efficiency of either algae. Extremely high concentrations (100–200 mg L−1), which may occur acutely, produced sublethal effects for both species and mortality in C. fragile subsp. fragile. Our results highlight the need to understand how caffeine impacts marine species.
Funding source: National Science Foundation
Award Identifier / Grant number: #EPS-1004057
Funding source: University of Rhode Island
Award Identifier / Grant number: Undergraduate Research Initiative Award
About the authors
Ira Gray received a BS in Marine Biology from the University of Rhode Island. At the time of this research, they were a part of the Marine Community Ecology Lab at the University of Rhode Island. They intend to continue to pursue research in public aquaria and are currently part of the Aquarium Science Program at Oregon Coast Community College.
Lindsay A. Green-Gavrielidis is a marine ecologist and an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and Biomedical Sciences at Salve Regina University. Her research is focused on human impacts on seaweed communities, non-native species, and seaweed aquaculture. Lindsay is passionate about teaching in the classroom, laboratory, and field and hopes to continue to inspire people to appreciate, study, and conserve the natural world.
Carol Thornber is a Professor of Natural Resources Science and the Director of University Research Operations at the University of Rhode Island, USA. Dr. Thornber is a marine ecologist and phycologist, with expertise in macroalgal bloom dynamics, coastal food webs, invasive species, seaweed aquaculture, and marine population and community ecology. Dr. Thornber has long standing interests in ensuring equity, diversity, and inclusion for all in marine sciences.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Luke Sebesta, Katherine Hannibal, and members of the Thornber Lab for laboratory and/or logistical help. This manuscript was greatly improved through the comments of two anonymous reviewers.
Author contributions: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: Funding was provided by an Undergraduate Research Initiative Award from the University of Rhode Island (awarded to I. Gray) and the National Science Foundation EPSCoR Cooperative Agreement #EPS-1004057.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/bot-2020-0055).
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