Climate change has altered zooplankton-fuelled carbon export in the North Atlantic

Abstract

 Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research.  You may not further distribute the material or use it for any profit-making activity or commercial gain  You may freely distribute the URL identifying the publication in the public portal If you believe that this document breaches copyright please contact us providing details, and we will remove access to the work immediately and investigate your claim.

Global Trends in Marine Plankton Diversity across Kingdoms of Life

“…We found that the most affected latitudes in the future currently exhibit a higher fisheries catch (32%–70% above average), carbon export (23%–70% above average), and fraction of marine protected areas (up to 100% above average; Figure 4B; Table S1I). This raises the question of how changes in diversity under the most severe climate warming scenario will affect global biogeochemical processes such as carbon export and sequestration, which are believed to have already been affected by climate change (Brun et al., 2019), and what would be the consequences for marine life in general, from already vulnerable marine animals and fish landings to life in the deep sea.…”

“…Future increases in ocean temperatures are expected to modify phytoplankton diversity and distribution directly by altering metabolic rates and growth (Thomas et al., 2012, Toseland et al., 2013) or indirectly through changes in ocean circulation and, consequently, the supply of nutrients to surface waters (Bopp et al., 2013). Given that such modifications will most likely impair the functions, goods, and services provided by the ocean (Brun et al., 2019, Hutchins and Fu, 2017, Worm et al., 2006), predicting how plankton diversity will respond to climate change has become a pressing challenge (Cavicchioli et al., 2019).…”

Latitudinal Variation in Plankton Traits and Ecosystem Function

“…This would be further advanced with a “diatom” functional group to account for their central role in the vertical flux of carbon and nutrients (Kemp et al, 2000; Smetacek, 1999; Tréguer & De La Rocha, 2013). In a similar manner, the active vertical transport of carbon has been shown to be accessible to a trait‐based approach (Hansen & Visser, 2016) and used to map shifts in carbon sequestration in the North Atlantic (Brun et al, 2019). All of these features are accessible through the same conceptual modeling framework outlined here, providing an integrated platform spanning from primary production to marine ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration and fisheries production.…”

Lipid content in overwintering Calanus finmarchicus across the Subpolar Eastern North Atlantic Ocean

“…While warming of the deep overwintering habitats is not seen as an imminent threat in the deep‐ocean basins, the warming of the surface waters is predicted to increase more rapidly in the Arctic and Subarctic regions compared to other oceanic regions (IPCC ). C. finmarchicus populations appear to be moving further north with the warmer currents (e.g., Chust et al ) with implications for export carbon flux across the whole North Atlantic basin (Brun et al ). However, while overwintering habitats may stay relatively stable and within the tolerable range for successful overwintering, the warmer surface waters will inevitably result in faster growth and smaller sized copepods (Campbell et al ; Forster and Hirst ).…”