Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014
As environmental conditions evolve with rapidly increasing atmospheric CO 2 , biological communities will change as species reorient their distributions, adapt, or alter their abundance. In the surface ocean, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) has been increasing over the past several decades as anthr...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:eea346c269a84d54ad68073d7ca1a54f 2023-05-15T17:31:39+02:00 Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski N. M. Freeman N. R. Bates 2016-02-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1163-2016 https://doaj.org/article/eea346c269a84d54ad68073d7ca1a54f EN eng Copernicus Publications http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/1163/2016/bg-13-1163-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-13-1163-2016 https://doaj.org/article/eea346c269a84d54ad68073d7ca1a54f Biogeosciences, Vol 13, Iss 4, Pp 1163-1177 (2016) Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 article 2016 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1163-2016 2022-12-31T13:51:07Z As environmental conditions evolve with rapidly increasing atmospheric CO 2 , biological communities will change as species reorient their distributions, adapt, or alter their abundance. In the surface ocean, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) has been increasing over the past several decades as anthropogenic CO 2 dissolves into seawater, causing acidification (decreases in pH and carbonate ion concentration). Calcifying phytoplankton, such as coccolithophores, are thought to be especially vulnerable to ocean acidification. How coccolithophores will respond to increasing carbon input has been a subject of much speculation and inspired numerous laboratory and mesocosm experiments, but how they are currently responding in situ is less well documented. In this study, we use coccolithophore (haptophyte) pigment data collected at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site together with satellite estimates (1998–2014) of surface chlorophyll and particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) as a proxy for coccolithophore abundance to show that coccolithophore populations in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre have been increasing significantly over the past 2 decades. Over 1990–2012, we observe a 37 % increase in euphotic zone-integrated coccolithophore pigment abundance at BATS, though we note that this is sensitive to the period being analyzed. We further demonstrate that variability in coccolithophore chlorophyll a here is positively correlated with variability in nitrate and DIC (and especially the bicarbonate ion) in the upper 30 m of the water column. Previous studies have suggested that coccolithophore photosynthesis may benefit from increasing CO 2 , but calcification may eventually be hindered by low pH T (< 7.7). Given that DIC has been increasing at BATS by ∼ 1.4 µmol kg −1 yr −1 over the period of 1991–2012, we speculate that coccolithophore photosynthesis and perhaps calcification may have increased in response to anthropogenic CO 2 input. Article in Journal/Newspaper North Atlantic Ocean acidification Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Biogeosciences 13 4 1163 1177 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
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Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski N. M. Freeman N. R. Bates Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
topic_facet |
Ecology QH540-549.5 Life QH501-531 Geology QE1-996.5 |
description |
As environmental conditions evolve with rapidly increasing atmospheric CO 2 , biological communities will change as species reorient their distributions, adapt, or alter their abundance. In the surface ocean, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) has been increasing over the past several decades as anthropogenic CO 2 dissolves into seawater, causing acidification (decreases in pH and carbonate ion concentration). Calcifying phytoplankton, such as coccolithophores, are thought to be especially vulnerable to ocean acidification. How coccolithophores will respond to increasing carbon input has been a subject of much speculation and inspired numerous laboratory and mesocosm experiments, but how they are currently responding in situ is less well documented. In this study, we use coccolithophore (haptophyte) pigment data collected at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study (BATS) site together with satellite estimates (1998–2014) of surface chlorophyll and particulate inorganic carbon (PIC) as a proxy for coccolithophore abundance to show that coccolithophore populations in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre have been increasing significantly over the past 2 decades. Over 1990–2012, we observe a 37 % increase in euphotic zone-integrated coccolithophore pigment abundance at BATS, though we note that this is sensitive to the period being analyzed. We further demonstrate that variability in coccolithophore chlorophyll a here is positively correlated with variability in nitrate and DIC (and especially the bicarbonate ion) in the upper 30 m of the water column. Previous studies have suggested that coccolithophore photosynthesis may benefit from increasing CO 2 , but calcification may eventually be hindered by low pH T (< 7.7). Given that DIC has been increasing at BATS by ∼ 1.4 µmol kg −1 yr −1 over the period of 1991–2012, we speculate that coccolithophore photosynthesis and perhaps calcification may have increased in response to anthropogenic CO 2 input. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski N. M. Freeman N. R. Bates |
author_facet |
K. M. Krumhardt N. S. Lovenduski N. M. Freeman N. R. Bates |
author_sort |
K. M. Krumhardt |
title |
Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
title_short |
Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
title_full |
Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
title_fullStr |
Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
title_full_unstemmed |
Apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical North Atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
title_sort |
apparent increase in coccolithophore abundance in the subtropical north atlantic from 1990 to 2014 |
publisher |
Copernicus Publications |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1163-2016 https://doaj.org/article/eea346c269a84d54ad68073d7ca1a54f |
genre |
North Atlantic Ocean acidification |
genre_facet |
North Atlantic Ocean acidification |
op_source |
Biogeosciences, Vol 13, Iss 4, Pp 1163-1177 (2016) |
op_relation |
http://www.biogeosciences.net/13/1163/2016/bg-13-1163-2016.pdf https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4170 https://doaj.org/toc/1726-4189 1726-4170 1726-4189 doi:10.5194/bg-13-1163-2016 https://doaj.org/article/eea346c269a84d54ad68073d7ca1a54f |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/bg-13-1163-2016 |
container_title |
Biogeosciences |
container_volume |
13 |
container_issue |
4 |
container_start_page |
1163 |
op_container_end_page |
1177 |
_version_ |
1766129341943513088 |