Phaeocystis blooms in the global ocean and their controlling mechanisms: A review

• Main Authors: Véronique Schoemann, Sylvie Becquevort, Jacqueline Stefels, Christiane Lancelot
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 2005
• Subjects: Phaeocystis; ocean distribution; blooms; ecophysiology; food-web dynamics; biogeochemistry. Running title; Phaeocystis blooms and controlling mechanisms; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.319.9563; http://www.ulb.ac.be/assoc/esa/comets/publis_pdf/Schoemann et al MS.pdf

Phaeocystis is a genus of marine phytoplankton with a world-wide distribution. It has a polymorphic life cycle alternating free-living cells and colonies but develops massive blooms under the colony form in nutrient (major)-enriched areas (mostly nitrates) of the global ocean. Among the 6 species, only 3 (P. pouchetii, P. antarctica, P. globosa) have been reported as blooming species. However information on the present-day contribution of Phaeocystis-dominated ecosystems to regional and global marine production as well as to global C and S cycles and how these might change in the future is lacking. As a first step in this direction this review synthesises knowledge on the physiology, growth and fate of Phaeocystis in the global ocean. Emphasis is given on identifying environmental and biological factors favourable to bloom formation with the aim of selecting relevant parameters for implementing a mechanistic model describing Phaeocystis blooms in the global ocean. It also aims to identify missing information concerning regulation of most important bottom-up and top-down processes. The synthesis of published data suggests that it is possible to