Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species
Coccolithophores, a diverse group of phytoplankton, make important contributions to pelagic calcite production and export, yet the comparative biogeochemical role of species other than the ubiquitous Emiliania huxleyi is poorly understood. The contribution of different coccolithophore species to tot...
Published in: | Biogeosciences |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Copernicus Publications
2014
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 2023-05-15T15:02:20+02:00 Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species C. J. Daniels R. M. Sheward A. J. Poulton 2014-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/6915/2014/bg-11-6915-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 Biogeosciences, Vol 11, Iss 23, Pp 6915-6925 (2014) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2014 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 2022-12-31T09:22:30Z Coccolithophores, a diverse group of phytoplankton, make important contributions to pelagic calcite production and export, yet the comparative biogeochemical role of species other than the ubiquitous Emiliania huxleyi is poorly understood. The contribution of different coccolithophore species to total calcite production is controlled by inter-species differences in cellular calcite, growth rate and relative abundance within a mixed community. In this study we examined the relative importance of E. huxleyi and two Coccolithus species in terms of daily calcite production. Culture experiments compared growth rates and cellular calcite content of E. huxleyi (Arctic and temperate strains), Coccolithus pelagicus (novel Arctic strain) and Coccolithus braarudii (temperate strain). Despite assumptions that E. huxleyi is a fast-growing species, growth rates between the three species were broadly comparable (0.16–0.85 d −1 ) under identical temperature and light conditions. Emiliania huxleyi grew only 12% faster on average than C. pelagicus , and 28% faster than C. braarudii . As the cellular calcite content of C. pelagicus and C. braarudii is typically 30–80 times greater than E. huxleyi , comparable growth rates suggest that Coccolithus species have the potential to be major calcite producers in mixed populations. To further explore these results we devised a simplistic model comparing daily calcite production from Coccolithus and E. huxleyi across a realistic range of relative abundances and a wide range of relative growth rates. Using the relative differences in growth rates from our culture studies, we found that C. pelagicus would be a larger source of calcite if abundances of E. huxleyi to C. pelagicus were below 34:1. Relative abundance data collected from North Atlantic field samples (spring and summer 2010) suggest that, with a relative growth rate of 88%, C. pelagicus dominated calcite production at 69% of the sites sampled. With a more extreme difference in growth rates, where C. pelagicus grows at 1/10th of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic North Atlantic Phytoplankton Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Biogeosciences 11 23 6915 6925 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
spellingShingle |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 C. J. Daniels R. M. Sheward A. J. Poulton Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
Coccolithophores, a diverse group of phytoplankton, make important contributions to pelagic calcite production and export, yet the comparative biogeochemical role of species other than the ubiquitous Emiliania huxleyi is poorly understood. The contribution of different coccolithophore species to total calcite production is controlled by inter-species differences in cellular calcite, growth rate and relative abundance within a mixed community. In this study we examined the relative importance of E. huxleyi and two Coccolithus species in terms of daily calcite production. Culture experiments compared growth rates and cellular calcite content of E. huxleyi (Arctic and temperate strains), Coccolithus pelagicus (novel Arctic strain) and Coccolithus braarudii (temperate strain). Despite assumptions that E. huxleyi is a fast-growing species, growth rates between the three species were broadly comparable (0.16–0.85 d −1 ) under identical temperature and light conditions. Emiliania huxleyi grew only 12% faster on average than C. pelagicus , and 28% faster than C. braarudii . As the cellular calcite content of C. pelagicus and C. braarudii is typically 30–80 times greater than E. huxleyi , comparable growth rates suggest that Coccolithus species have the potential to be major calcite producers in mixed populations. To further explore these results we devised a simplistic model comparing daily calcite production from Coccolithus and E. huxleyi across a realistic range of relative abundances and a wide range of relative growth rates. Using the relative differences in growth rates from our culture studies, we found that C. pelagicus would be a larger source of calcite if abundances of E. huxleyi to C. pelagicus were below 34:1. Relative abundance data collected from North Atlantic field samples (spring and summer 2010) suggest that, with a relative growth rate of 88%, C. pelagicus dominated calcite production at 69% of the sites sampled. With a more extreme difference in growth rates, where C. pelagicus grows at 1/10th of ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
C. J. Daniels R. M. Sheward A. J. Poulton |
author_facet |
C. J. Daniels R. M. Sheward A. J. Poulton |
author_sort |
C. J. Daniels |
title |
Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species |
title_short |
Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species |
title_full |
Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species |
title_fullStr |
Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species |
title_full_unstemmed |
Biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of Emiliania huxleyi and Coccolithus species |
title_sort |
biogeochemical implications of comparative growth rates of emiliania huxleyi and coccolithus species |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic North Atlantic Phytoplankton |
genre_facet |
Arctic North Atlantic Phytoplankton |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 11, Iss 23, Pp 6915-6925 (2014) |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/11/6915/2014/bg-11-6915-2014.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 https://doaj.org/article/c8a18a00c11f4d6aa2e9f59448b79db9 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-11-6915-2014 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
11 |
container_issue |
23 |
container_start_page |
6915 |
op_container_end_page |
6925 |
_version_ |
1766334305433288704 |