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Geographical CO2 sensitivity of phytoplankton correlates with ocean buffer capacity

Geographical CO2 sensitivity of phytoplankton correlates with ocean buffer capacity
Geographical CO2 sensitivity of phytoplankton correlates with ocean buffer capacity
Accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 is significantly altering ocean chemistry. A range of biological impacts resulting from this oceanic CO2 accumulation are emerging, however, the mechanisms responsible for observed differential susceptibility between organisms and across environmental settings remain obscure. A primary consequence of increased oceanic CO2 uptake is a decrease in the carbonate system buffer capacity, which characterizes the system's chemical resilience to changes in CO2, generating the potential for enhanced variability in pCO2 and the concentration of carbonate [urn:x-wiley:13541013:media:gcb14324:gcb14324-math-0001], bicarbonate [urn:x-wiley:13541013:media:gcb14324:gcb14324-math-0002], and protons [H+] in the future ocean. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 17 shipboard manipulation experiments performed across three distinct geographical regions that encompassed a wide range of environmental conditions from European temperate seas to Arctic and Southern oceans. These data demonstrated a correlation between the magnitude of natural phytoplankton community biological responses to short‐term CO2 changes and variability in the local buffer capacity across ocean basin scales. Specifically, short‐term suppression of small phytoplankton (<10 μm) net growth rates were consistently observed under enhanced pCO2 within experiments performed in regions with higher ambient buffer capacity. The results further highlight the relevance of phytoplankton cell size for the impacts of enhanced pCO2 in both the modern and future ocean. Specifically, cell size‐related acclimation and adaptation to regional environmental variability, as characterized by buffer capacity, likely influences interactions between primary producers and carbonate chemistry over a range of spatio‐temporal scales.
1354-1013
4438-4452
Richier, Sophie
5f9dc2da-8e13-49d6-8d71-cdbb2c38342c
Achterberg, Eric P.
6c6e8e22-dd19-49f1-ae4a-bdf003508dcb
Humphreys, Matthew
5edc45a6-2f03-4916-a9f5-4bef28108da7
Poulton, Alex
14bf64a7-d617-4913-b882-e8495543e717
Suggett, David
2208b0fa-1f41-4b58-9165-5883f3748a3d
Tyrrell, Toby
6808411d-c9cf-47a3-88b6-c7c294f2d114
Moore, Christopher
7ec80b7b-bedc-4dd5-8924-0f5d01927b12
Richier, Sophie
5f9dc2da-8e13-49d6-8d71-cdbb2c38342c
Achterberg, Eric P.
6c6e8e22-dd19-49f1-ae4a-bdf003508dcb
Humphreys, Matthew
5edc45a6-2f03-4916-a9f5-4bef28108da7
Poulton, Alex
14bf64a7-d617-4913-b882-e8495543e717
Suggett, David
2208b0fa-1f41-4b58-9165-5883f3748a3d
Tyrrell, Toby
6808411d-c9cf-47a3-88b6-c7c294f2d114
Moore, Christopher
7ec80b7b-bedc-4dd5-8924-0f5d01927b12

Richier, Sophie, Achterberg, Eric P., Humphreys, Matthew, Poulton, Alex, Suggett, David, Tyrrell, Toby and Moore, Christopher (2018) Geographical CO2 sensitivity of phytoplankton correlates with ocean buffer capacity. Global Change Biology, 24 (9), 4438-4452. (doi:10.1111/gcb.14324).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Accumulation of anthropogenic CO2 is significantly altering ocean chemistry. A range of biological impacts resulting from this oceanic CO2 accumulation are emerging, however, the mechanisms responsible for observed differential susceptibility between organisms and across environmental settings remain obscure. A primary consequence of increased oceanic CO2 uptake is a decrease in the carbonate system buffer capacity, which characterizes the system's chemical resilience to changes in CO2, generating the potential for enhanced variability in pCO2 and the concentration of carbonate [urn:x-wiley:13541013:media:gcb14324:gcb14324-math-0001], bicarbonate [urn:x-wiley:13541013:media:gcb14324:gcb14324-math-0002], and protons [H+] in the future ocean. We conducted a meta‐analysis of 17 shipboard manipulation experiments performed across three distinct geographical regions that encompassed a wide range of environmental conditions from European temperate seas to Arctic and Southern oceans. These data demonstrated a correlation between the magnitude of natural phytoplankton community biological responses to short‐term CO2 changes and variability in the local buffer capacity across ocean basin scales. Specifically, short‐term suppression of small phytoplankton (<10 μm) net growth rates were consistently observed under enhanced pCO2 within experiments performed in regions with higher ambient buffer capacity. The results further highlight the relevance of phytoplankton cell size for the impacts of enhanced pCO2 in both the modern and future ocean. Specifically, cell size‐related acclimation and adaptation to regional environmental variability, as characterized by buffer capacity, likely influences interactions between primary producers and carbonate chemistry over a range of spatio‐temporal scales.

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Accepted/In Press date: 17 April 2018
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 May 2018
Published date: September 2018

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 424885
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/424885
ISSN: 1354-1013
PURE UUID: b3745ae9-f0d6-4e75-a1ef-1283a046b50d
ORCID for Toby Tyrrell: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-1002-1716
ORCID for Christopher Moore: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-9541-6046

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Date deposited: 05 Oct 2018 11:52
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 06:37

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Contributors

Author: Sophie Richier
Author: Eric P. Achterberg
Author: Matthew Humphreys
Author: Alex Poulton
Author: David Suggett
Author: Toby Tyrrell ORCID iD

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