Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean
Abstract Over the last ten years, satellite and geographically constrained in situ observations largely focused on the northern hemisphere have suggested that annual phytoplankton biomass cycles cannot be fully understood from environmental properties controlling phytoplankton division rates (e.g.,...
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2020
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19157-2 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19157-2.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19157-2 |
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crspringernat:10.1038/s41467-020-19157-2 2023-05-15T18:18:41+02:00 Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean Arteaga, Lionel A. Boss, Emmanuel Behrenfeld, Michael J. Westberry, Toby K. Sarmiento, Jorge L. 2020 http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19157-2 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19157-2.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19157-2 en eng Springer Science and Business Media LLC https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Nature Communications volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2041-1723 General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry journal-article 2020 crspringernat https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19157-2 2022-01-04T15:53:19Z Abstract Over the last ten years, satellite and geographically constrained in situ observations largely focused on the northern hemisphere have suggested that annual phytoplankton biomass cycles cannot be fully understood from environmental properties controlling phytoplankton division rates (e.g., nutrients and light), as they omit the role of ecological and environmental loss processes (e.g., grazing, viruses, sinking). Here, we use multi-year observations from a very large array of robotic drifting floats in the Southern Ocean to determine key factors governing phytoplankton biomass dynamics over the annual cycle. Our analysis reveals seasonal phytoplankton accumulation (‘blooming’) events occurring during periods of declining modeled division rates, an observation that highlights the importance of loss processes in dictating the evolution of the seasonal cycle in biomass. In the open Southern Ocean, the spring bloom magnitude is found to be greatest in areas with high dissolved iron concentrations, consistent with iron being a well-established primary limiting nutrient in this region. Under ice observations show that biomass starts increasing in early winter, well before sea ice begins to retreat. The average theoretical sensitivity of the Southern Ocean to potential changes in seasonal nutrient and light availability suggests that a 10% change in phytoplankton division rate may be associated with a 50% reduction in mean bloom magnitude and annual primary productivity, assuming simple changes in the seasonal magnitude of phytoplankton division rates. Overall, our results highlight the importance of quantifying and accounting for both division and loss processes when modeling future changes in phytoplankton biomass cycles. Article in Journal/Newspaper Sea ice Southern Ocean Springer Nature (via Crossref) Southern Ocean Nature Communications 11 1 |
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Open Polar |
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Springer Nature (via Crossref) |
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English |
topic |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry |
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General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry Arteaga, Lionel A. Boss, Emmanuel Behrenfeld, Michael J. Westberry, Toby K. Sarmiento, Jorge L. Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean |
topic_facet |
General Physics and Astronomy General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology General Chemistry |
description |
Abstract Over the last ten years, satellite and geographically constrained in situ observations largely focused on the northern hemisphere have suggested that annual phytoplankton biomass cycles cannot be fully understood from environmental properties controlling phytoplankton division rates (e.g., nutrients and light), as they omit the role of ecological and environmental loss processes (e.g., grazing, viruses, sinking). Here, we use multi-year observations from a very large array of robotic drifting floats in the Southern Ocean to determine key factors governing phytoplankton biomass dynamics over the annual cycle. Our analysis reveals seasonal phytoplankton accumulation (‘blooming’) events occurring during periods of declining modeled division rates, an observation that highlights the importance of loss processes in dictating the evolution of the seasonal cycle in biomass. In the open Southern Ocean, the spring bloom magnitude is found to be greatest in areas with high dissolved iron concentrations, consistent with iron being a well-established primary limiting nutrient in this region. Under ice observations show that biomass starts increasing in early winter, well before sea ice begins to retreat. The average theoretical sensitivity of the Southern Ocean to potential changes in seasonal nutrient and light availability suggests that a 10% change in phytoplankton division rate may be associated with a 50% reduction in mean bloom magnitude and annual primary productivity, assuming simple changes in the seasonal magnitude of phytoplankton division rates. Overall, our results highlight the importance of quantifying and accounting for both division and loss processes when modeling future changes in phytoplankton biomass cycles. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Arteaga, Lionel A. Boss, Emmanuel Behrenfeld, Michael J. Westberry, Toby K. Sarmiento, Jorge L. |
author_facet |
Arteaga, Lionel A. Boss, Emmanuel Behrenfeld, Michael J. Westberry, Toby K. Sarmiento, Jorge L. |
author_sort |
Arteaga, Lionel A. |
title |
Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean |
title_short |
Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean |
title_full |
Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean |
title_fullStr |
Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean |
title_full_unstemmed |
Seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the Southern Ocean |
title_sort |
seasonal modulation of phytoplankton biomass in the southern ocean |
publisher |
Springer Science and Business Media LLC |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19157-2 http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19157-2.pdf http://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-19157-2 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean |
genre |
Sea ice Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
Sea ice Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Nature Communications volume 11, issue 1 ISSN 2041-1723 |
op_rights |
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19157-2 |
container_title |
Nature Communications |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766195345543397376 |