El Niño-Southern Oscillation on a Changing Planet: Consequences for Coastal Ecosystems

The Oxygen Minimum Zone (OMZ) of the Tropical South Eastern Pacific (TSEP) is one of the most intensely deoxygenated water masses of the global ocean. It is strongly affected at interannual time scales by El Niño (EN) and La Niña (LN) due to its proximity to the equatorial Pacific. In this work, the physical and biogeochemical processes associated with the subsurface oxygen variability during EN and LN in the period 1958–2008 were studied using a regional coupled physical-biogeochemical model and in situ observations. The passage of intense remotely forced coastal trapped waves caused a strong deepening (shoaling) of the OMZ upper limit during EN (LN). A close correlation between the OMZ upper limit and thermocline depths was found close to the coast, highlighting the role of physical processes. The subsurface waters over the shelf and slope off central Peru had different origins depending on ENSO conditions. Offshore of the upwelling region (near 88°W), negative and positive oxygen subsurface anomalies were caused by Equatorial zonal circulation changes during LN and EN, respectively. The altered properties were then transported to the shelf and slope (above 200 m) by the Peru-Chile undercurrent. The source of nearshore oxygenated waters was located at 3°S−4°S during neutral periods, further north (1°S−1°N) during EN and further south (4°S−5°S) during LN. The offshore deeper (< 200–300 m) OMZ was ventilated by waters originating from ~8°S during EN and LN. Enhanced mesoscale variability during EN also impacted OMZ ventilation through horizontal and vertical eddy fluxes. The vertical eddy flux decreased due to the reduced vertical gradient of oxygen in the surface layer, whereas horizontal eddy fluxes injected more oxygen into the OMZ through its meridional boundaries. In subsurface layers, remineralization of organic matter, the main biogeochemical sink of oxygen, was higher during EN than during LN due to oxygenation of the surface layer. Sensitivity experiments highlighted the larger impact of equatorial remote forcing with respect to local wind forcing during EN and LN.

Understanding the interactive effects of multiple stressors on pelagic mollusks associated with global climate change is especially important in highly productive coastal ecosystems of the upwelling regime, such as the California Current System (CCS). Due to temporal overlap between a marine heatwave, an El Niño event, and springtime intensification of the upwelling, pteropods of the CCS were exposed to co-occurring increased temperature, low Ω_ar and pH, and deoxygenation. The variability in the natural gradients during NOAA’s WCOA 2016 cruise provided a unique opportunity for synoptic study of chemical and biological interactions. We investigated the effects of in situ multiple drivers and their interactions across cellular, physiological, and population levels. Oxidative stress biomarkers were used to assess pteropods’ cellular status and antioxidant defenses. Low aragonite saturation state (Ω_ar) is associated with significant activation of oxidative stress biomarkers, as indicated by increased levels of lipid peroxidation (LPX), but the antioxidative activity defense might be insufficient against cellular stress. Thermal stress in combination with low Ω_ar additively increases the level of LPX toxicity, while food availability can mediate the negative effect. On the physiological level, we found synergistic interaction between low Ω_ar and deoxygenation and thermal stress (Ω_ar:T, O₂:T). On the population level, temperature was the main driver of abundance distribution, with low Ω_ar being a strong driver of secondary importance. The additive effects of thermal stress and low Ω_ar on abundance suggest a negative effect of El Niño at the population level. Our study clearly demonstrates Ω_ar and temperature are master variables in explaining biological responses, cautioning the use of a single parameter in the statistical analyses. High quantities of polyunsaturated fatty acids are susceptible to oxidative stress because of LPX, resulting in the loss of lipid reserves and structural damage to cell membranes, a potential mechanism explaining extreme pteropod sensitivity to low Ω_ar. Accumulation of oxidative damage requires metabolic compensation, implying energetic trade-offs under combined thermal and low Ω_ar and pH stress. Oxidative stress biomarkers can be used as early-warning signal of multiple stressors on the cellular level, thereby providing important new insights into factors that set limits to species’ tolerance to in situ multiple drivers.