Interaction matters: Bottom-up driver interdependencies alter the projected response of phytoplankton communities to climate change ...

Phytoplankton growth is controlled by multiple environmental drivers, which are all modified by climate change. While numerous experimental studies identify interactive effects between drivers, large-scale ocean biogeochemistry models mostly account for growth responses to each driver separately and...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Seifert, Miriam, Nissen, Cara, Rost, Björn, Vogt, Meike, Völker, Christoph, Hauck, Judith
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: ETH Zurich 2023
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Online Access:https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000616984
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/616984
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Summary:Phytoplankton growth is controlled by multiple environmental drivers, which are all modified by climate change. While numerous experimental studies identify interactive effects between drivers, large-scale ocean biogeochemistry models mostly account for growth responses to each driver separately and leave the results of these experimental multiple-driver studies largely unused. Here, we amend phytoplankton growth functions in a biogeochemical model by dual-driver interactions (CO2 and temperature, CO2 and light), based on data of a published meta-analysis on multiple-driver laboratory experiments. The effect of this parametrization on phytoplankton biomass and community composition is tested using present-day and future high-emission (SSP5-8.5) climate forcing. While the projected decrease in future total global phytoplankton biomass in simulations with driver interactions is similar to that in control simulations without driver interactions (5%-6%), interactive driver effects are group-specific. Globally, ... : Global Change Biology, 29 (15) ...