Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll biomass in the surface ocean is regulated by a complex interaction of physiological, oceanographic, and ecological factors and in turn regulates the rates of primary production and export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Mechanistic models of phytoplankton responses to climate change...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:e0cbcfd7ec594d4bb64915671f263e20 2023-05-15T17:33:27+02:00 Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. Andrew J Irwin Zoe V Finkel 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 https://doaj.org/article/e0cbcfd7ec594d4bb64915671f263e20 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2584232?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 https://doaj.org/article/e0cbcfd7ec594d4bb64915671f263e20 PLoS ONE, Vol 3, Iss 11, p e3836 (2008) Medicine R Science Q article 2008 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 2022-12-31T00:07:12Z Chlorophyll biomass in the surface ocean is regulated by a complex interaction of physiological, oceanographic, and ecological factors and in turn regulates the rates of primary production and export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Mechanistic models of phytoplankton responses to climate change require the parameterization of many processes of which we have limited knowledge. We develop a statistical approach to estimate the response of remote-sensed ocean chlorophyll to a variety of physical and chemical variables. Irradiance over the mixed layer depth, surface nitrate, sea-surface temperature, and latitude and longitude together can predict 83% of the variation in log chlorophyll in the North Atlantic. Light and nitrate regulate biomass through an empirically determined minimum function explaining nearly 50% of the variation in log chlorophyll by themselves and confirming that either light or macronutrients are often limiting and that much of the variation in chlorophyll concentration is determined by bottom-up mechanisms. Assuming the dynamics of the future ocean are governed by the same processes at work today, we should be able to apply these response functions to future climate change scenarios, with changes in temperature, nutrient distributions, irradiance, and ocean physics. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles PLoS ONE 3 11 e3836 |
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Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Andrew J Irwin Zoe V Finkel Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
Chlorophyll biomass in the surface ocean is regulated by a complex interaction of physiological, oceanographic, and ecological factors and in turn regulates the rates of primary production and export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Mechanistic models of phytoplankton responses to climate change require the parameterization of many processes of which we have limited knowledge. We develop a statistical approach to estimate the response of remote-sensed ocean chlorophyll to a variety of physical and chemical variables. Irradiance over the mixed layer depth, surface nitrate, sea-surface temperature, and latitude and longitude together can predict 83% of the variation in log chlorophyll in the North Atlantic. Light and nitrate regulate biomass through an empirically determined minimum function explaining nearly 50% of the variation in log chlorophyll by themselves and confirming that either light or macronutrients are often limiting and that much of the variation in chlorophyll concentration is determined by bottom-up mechanisms. Assuming the dynamics of the future ocean are governed by the same processes at work today, we should be able to apply these response functions to future climate change scenarios, with changes in temperature, nutrient distributions, irradiance, and ocean physics. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andrew J Irwin Zoe V Finkel |
author_facet |
Andrew J Irwin Zoe V Finkel |
author_sort |
Andrew J Irwin |
title |
Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
title_short |
Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
title_full |
Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
title_fullStr |
Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
title_sort |
mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 https://doaj.org/article/e0cbcfd7ec594d4bb64915671f263e20 |
genre |
North Atlantic |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 3, Iss 11, p e3836 (2008) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2584232?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 https://doaj.org/article/e0cbcfd7ec594d4bb64915671f263e20 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 |
container_title |
PLoS ONE |
container_volume |
3 |
container_issue |
11 |
container_start_page |
e3836 |
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1766131968863371264 |