Why marine phytoplankton calcify

• Published in: Science Advances
• Main Authors: Monteiro, Fanny M., Bach, Lennart T., Brownlee, Colin, Bown, Paul, Rickaby, Rosalind E. M., Poulton, Alex J., Tyrrell, Toby, Beaufort, Luc, L, Dutkiewicz, Stephanie, Gibbs, Samantha, Gutowska, Magdalena A., Lee, Renee, Riebesell, Ulf, Young, Jeremy, Ridgwell, Andy
• Other Authors: Marine Biological Association, National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Centre Européen de Recherche et d'Enseignement des Géosciences de l'Environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Marine Biogeochemistry, Leibniz-Institut für Meereswissenschaften (IFM-GEOMAR), Department of Earth Sciences, University of London, Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), University of Bristol Bristol
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2016
• Subjects: [SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences; Ocean acidification
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-01458292; https://hal.science/hal-01458292/document; https://hal.science/hal-01458292/file/e1501822.full.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1501822

International audience Calcifying marine phytoplankton-coccolithophores- are some of the most successful yet enigmatic organisms in the ocean and are at risk from global change. To better understand how they will be affected, we need to know ``why'' coccolithophores calcify. We review coccolithophorid evolutionary history and cell biology as well as insights from recent experiments to provide a critical assessment of the costs and benefits of calcification. We conclude that calcification has high energy demands and that coccolithophores might have calcified initially to reduce grazing pressure but that additional benefits such as protection from photodamage and viral/bacterial attack further explain their high diversity and broad spectrum ecology. The cost-benefit aspect of these traits is illustrated by novel ecosystem modeling, although conclusive observations remain limited. In the future ocean, the trade-off between changing ecological and physiological costs of calcification and their benefits will ultimately decide how this important group is affected by ocean acidification and global warming.