Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations
Abstract 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 f...
Published in: | Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:4e553c735ea04c1ea953b778212c8bb9 2023-05-15T17:35:14+02:00 Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski M. C. Long M. Levy K. Lindsay J. K. Moore C. Nissen 2019-05-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001483 https://doaj.org/article/4e553c735ea04c1ea953b778212c8bb9 EN eng American Geophysical Union (AGU) https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001483 https://doaj.org/toc/1942-2466 1942-2466 doi:10.1029/2018MS001483 https://doaj.org/article/4e553c735ea04c1ea953b778212c8bb9 Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol 11, Iss 5, Pp 1418-1437 (2019) ocean acidification marine calcification coccolithophores phytoplankton climate change Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001483 2022-12-30T22:37:11Z Abstract 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, Western Pacific, and parts of the Southern Ocean, due to an alleviation of carbon limitation for coccolithophore growth. Global annual calcification is 6% higher under present‐day CO2 levels relative to preindustrial CO2 (1.5 compared to 1.4 Pg C/year). However, under 900 μatm CO2, global annual calcification is 11% lower than under preindustrial CO2 levels (1.2 Pg C/year). Large portions of the ocean show greatly decreased coccolithophore calcification relative to growth, resulting in significant regional carbon export and air‐sea CO2 exchange feedbacks. Our study implies that coccolithophores become more abundant but less calcified as CO2 increases with a tipping point in global calcification (changing from increasing to decreasing calcification relative to preindustrial) at approximately ∼600 μatm CO2. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Ocean acidification Southern Ocean Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Southern Ocean Pacific Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems 11 5 1418 1437 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
ocean acidification marine calcification coccolithophores phytoplankton climate change Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
spellingShingle |
ocean acidification marine calcification coccolithophores phytoplankton climate change Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski M. C. Long M. Levy K. Lindsay J. K. Moore C. Nissen Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations |
topic_facet |
ocean acidification marine calcification coccolithophores phytoplankton climate change Physical geography GB3-5030 Oceanography GC1-1581 |
description |
Abstract 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, Western Pacific, and parts of the Southern Ocean, due to an alleviation of carbon limitation for coccolithophore growth. Global annual calcification is 6% higher under present‐day CO2 levels relative to preindustrial CO2 (1.5 compared to 1.4 Pg C/year). However, under 900 μatm CO2, global annual calcification is 11% lower than under preindustrial CO2 levels (1.2 Pg C/year). Large portions of the ocean show greatly decreased coccolithophore calcification relative to growth, resulting in significant regional carbon export and air‐sea CO2 exchange feedbacks. Our study implies that coccolithophores become more abundant but less calcified as CO2 increases with a tipping point in global calcification (changing from increasing to decreasing calcification relative to preindustrial) at approximately ∼600 μatm CO2. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski M. C. Long M. Levy K. Lindsay J. K. Moore C. Nissen |
author_facet |
K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski M. C. Long M. Levy K. Lindsay J. K. Moore C. Nissen |
author_sort |
K. M. Krumhardt |
title |
Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations |
title_short |
Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations |
title_full |
Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations |
title_fullStr |
Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations |
title_full_unstemmed |
Coccolithophore Growth and Calcification in an Acidified Ocean: Insights From Community Earth System Model Simulations |
title_sort |
coccolithophore growth and calcification in an acidified ocean: insights from community earth system model simulations |
publisher |
American Geophysical Union (AGU) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001483 https://doaj.org/article/4e553c735ea04c1ea953b778212c8bb9 |
geographic |
Southern Ocean Pacific |
geographic_facet |
Southern Ocean Pacific |
genre |
North Atlantic Ocean acidification Southern Ocean |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Ocean acidification Southern Ocean |
op_source |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems, Vol 11, Iss 5, Pp 1418-1437 (2019) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001483 https://doaj.org/toc/1942-2466 1942-2466 doi:10.1029/2018MS001483 https://doaj.org/article/4e553c735ea04c1ea953b778212c8bb9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018MS001483 |
container_title |
Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
5 |
container_start_page |
1418 |
op_container_end_page |
1437 |
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1766134325347090432 |