Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations ...

• Main Authors: Krumhardt, Kristen M., Lovenduski, Nicole S., Long, Matthew C., Lévy, Marina, Lindsay, Keith, Moore, Jefferson K., Nissen, Cara
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2019
• Subjects: ocean acidification; marine calcification; coccolithophores; phytoplankton; climate change; North Atlantic; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000356710; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/356710

Anthropogenic CO2 emissions are inundating the upper ocean, acidifying the water, and altering the habitat for marine phytoplankton. These changes are thought to be particularly influential for calcifying phytoplankton, namely, coccolithophores. Coccolithophores are widespread and account for a substantial portion of open ocean calcification; changes in their abundance, distribution, or level of calcification could have far‐reaching ecological and biogeochemical impacts. Here, we isolate the effects of increasing CO2 on coccolithophores using an explicit coccolithophore phytoplankton functional type parameterization in the Community Earth System Model. Coccolithophore growth and calcification are sensitive to changing aqueous CO2. While holding circulation constant, we demonstrate that increasing CO2 concentrations cause coccolithophores in most areas to decrease calcium carbonate production relative to growth. However, several oceanic regions show large increases in calcification, such the North Atlantic, ... : Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, 11 (5) ...