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Global reductions in seafloor biomass in response to climate change

Global reductions in seafloor biomass in response to climate change
Global reductions in seafloor biomass in response to climate change
Seafloor organisms are vital for healthy marine ecosystems, contributing to elemental cycling, benthic remineralization, and ultimately sequestration of carbon. Deep-sea life is primarily reliant on the export flux of particulate organic carbon from the surface ocean for food, but most ocean biogeochemistry models predict global decreases in export flux resulting from 21st century anthropogenically induced warming. Here we show that decadal-to-century scale changes in carbon export associated with climate change lead to an estimated 5.2% decrease in future (2091–2100) global open ocean benthic biomass under RCP8.5 (reduction of 5.2 Mt C) compared with contemporary conditions (2006–2015). Our projections use multi-model mean export flux estimates from eight fully coupled earth system models, which contributed to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5, that have been forced by high and low representative concentration pathways (RCP8.5 and 4.5, respectively). These export flux estimates are used in conjunction with published empirical relationships to predict changes in benthic biomass. The polar oceans and some upwelling areas may experience increases in benthic biomass, but most other regions show decreases, with up to 38% reductions in parts of the northeast Atlantic. Our analysis projects a future ocean with smaller sized infaunal benthos, potentially reducing energy transfer rates though benthic multicellular food webs. More than 80% of potential deep-water biodiversity hotspots known around the world, including canyons, seamounts, and cold-water coral reefs, are projected to experience negative changes in biomass. These major reductions in biomass may lead to widespread change in benthic ecosystems and the functions and services they provide.
benthic, deep-sea, macroecology, macrofauna, megafauna, meiofaunal, size structure, standing stock
1354-1013
1861-1872
Jones, Daniel O.B.
44fc07b3-5fb7-4bf5-9cec-78c78022613a
Yool, Andrew
882aeb0d-dda0-405e-844c-65b68cce5017
Wei, Chih-Lin
a624eaa3-a5a1-4e26-8294-4108fe807a36
Henson, Stephanie A.
d6532e17-a65b-4d7b-9ee3-755ecb565c19
Ruhl, Henry A.
177608ef-7793-4911-86cf-cd9960ff22b6
Watson, Reg A.
225e8427-7b93-41ff-82ea-fc61b67598d8
Gehlen, Marion
e4883d9b-b726-46b9-abcd-c2915e5cee51
Jones, Daniel O.B.
44fc07b3-5fb7-4bf5-9cec-78c78022613a
Yool, Andrew
882aeb0d-dda0-405e-844c-65b68cce5017
Wei, Chih-Lin
a624eaa3-a5a1-4e26-8294-4108fe807a36
Henson, Stephanie A.
d6532e17-a65b-4d7b-9ee3-755ecb565c19
Ruhl, Henry A.
177608ef-7793-4911-86cf-cd9960ff22b6
Watson, Reg A.
225e8427-7b93-41ff-82ea-fc61b67598d8
Gehlen, Marion
e4883d9b-b726-46b9-abcd-c2915e5cee51

Jones, Daniel O.B., Yool, Andrew, Wei, Chih-Lin, Henson, Stephanie A., Ruhl, Henry A., Watson, Reg A. and Gehlen, Marion (2014) Global reductions in seafloor biomass in response to climate change. Global Change Biology, 20 (6), 1861-1872. (doi:10.1111/gcb.12480).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Seafloor organisms are vital for healthy marine ecosystems, contributing to elemental cycling, benthic remineralization, and ultimately sequestration of carbon. Deep-sea life is primarily reliant on the export flux of particulate organic carbon from the surface ocean for food, but most ocean biogeochemistry models predict global decreases in export flux resulting from 21st century anthropogenically induced warming. Here we show that decadal-to-century scale changes in carbon export associated with climate change lead to an estimated 5.2% decrease in future (2091–2100) global open ocean benthic biomass under RCP8.5 (reduction of 5.2 Mt C) compared with contemporary conditions (2006–2015). Our projections use multi-model mean export flux estimates from eight fully coupled earth system models, which contributed to the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5, that have been forced by high and low representative concentration pathways (RCP8.5 and 4.5, respectively). These export flux estimates are used in conjunction with published empirical relationships to predict changes in benthic biomass. The polar oceans and some upwelling areas may experience increases in benthic biomass, but most other regions show decreases, with up to 38% reductions in parts of the northeast Atlantic. Our analysis projects a future ocean with smaller sized infaunal benthos, potentially reducing energy transfer rates though benthic multicellular food webs. More than 80% of potential deep-water biodiversity hotspots known around the world, including canyons, seamounts, and cold-water coral reefs, are projected to experience negative changes in biomass. These major reductions in biomass may lead to widespread change in benthic ecosystems and the functions and services they provide.

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More information

Accepted/In Press date: November 2013
Published date: June 2014
Keywords: benthic, deep-sea, macroecology, macrofauna, megafauna, meiofaunal, size structure, standing stock
Organisations: Marine Systems Modelling, Marine Biogeochemistry

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 360185
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/360185
ISSN: 1354-1013
PURE UUID: dcf03ef9-5c17-41a6-9953-5a7fde7765f4

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Date deposited: 27 Nov 2013 17:26
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 15:34

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Contributors

Author: Daniel O.B. Jones
Author: Andrew Yool
Author: Chih-Lin Wei
Author: Henry A. Ruhl
Author: Reg A. Watson
Author: Marion Gehlen

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