Picophytoplankton biomass distribution in the global ocean

• Published in: Earth System Science Data
• Main Authors: E. T. Buitenhuis, W. K. W. Li, D. Vaulot, M. W. Lomas, M. R. Landry, F. Partensky, D. M. Karl, O. Ulloa, L. Campbell, S. Jacquet, F. Lantoine, F. Chavez, D. Macias, M. Gosselin, G. B. McManus
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Copernicus Publications 2012
• Subjects: Environmental sciences; GE1-350; Geology; QE1-996.5; Indian; Pacific; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-37-2012; https://doaj.org/article/f855b5b6836e4aeca94481031227281d

The smallest marine phytoplankton, collectively termed picophytoplankton, have been routinely enumerated by flow cytometry since the late 1980s during cruises throughout most of the world ocean. We compiled a database of 40 946 data points, with separate abundance entries for Prochlorococcus , Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes. We use average conversion factors for each of the three groups to convert the abundance data to carbon biomass. After gridding with 1° spacing, the database covers 2.4% of the ocean surface area, with the best data coverage in the North Atlantic, the South Pacific and North Indian basins, and at least some data in all other basins. The average picophytoplankton biomass is 12 ± 22 μg C l −1 or 1.9 g C m −2 . We estimate a total global picophytoplankton biomass of 0.53–1.32 Pg C (17–39% Prochlorococcus , 12–15% Synechococcus and 49–69% picoeukaryotes), with an intermediate/best estimate of 0.74 Pg C. Future efforts in this area of research should focus on reporting calibrated cell size and collecting data in undersampled regions. http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.777385