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Phytoplankton as Key Mediators of the Biological Carbon Pump: Their Responses to a Changing Climate

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  • Samarpita Basu

    (Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA)

  • Katherine R. M. Mackey

    (Earth System Science, University of California Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697, USA)

Abstract

The world’s oceans are a major sink for atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). The biological carbon pump plays a vital role in the net transfer of CO 2 from the atmosphere to the oceans and then to the sediments, subsequently maintaining atmospheric CO 2 at significantly lower levels than would be the case if it did not exist. The efficiency of the biological pump is a function of phytoplankton physiology and community structure, which are in turn governed by the physical and chemical conditions of the ocean. However, only a few studies have focused on the importance of phytoplankton community structure to the biological pump. Because global change is expected to influence carbon and nutrient availability, temperature and light (via stratification), an improved understanding of how phytoplankton community size structure will respond in the future is required to gain insight into the biological pump and the ability of the ocean to act as a long-term sink for atmospheric CO 2 . This review article aims to explore the potential impacts of predicted changes in global temperature and the carbonate system on phytoplankton cell size, species and elemental composition, so as to shed light on the ability of the biological pump to sequester carbon in the future ocean.

Suggested Citation

  • Samarpita Basu & Katherine R. M. Mackey, 2018. "Phytoplankton as Key Mediators of the Biological Carbon Pump: Their Responses to a Changing Climate," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:3:p:869-:d:136958
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Mariela González-Narváez & María José Fernández-Gómez & Susana Mendes & José-Luis Molina & Omar Ruiz-Barzola & Purificación Galindo-Villardón, 2021. "Study of Temporal Variations in Species–Environment Association through an Innovative Multivariate Method: MixSTATICO," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, May.
    2. Teng Li & Yan Bai & Xianqiang He & Xiaoyan Chen & Chen-Tung Arthur Chen & Bangyi Tao & Delu Pan & Xuan Zhang, 2018. "The Relationship between POC Export Efficiency and Primary Production: Opposite on the Shelf and Basin of the Northern South China Sea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(10), pages 1-22, October.
    3. Vincent Bian & Merrick Cai & Christopher L. Follett, 2023. "Understanding opposing predictions of Prochlorococcus in a changing climate," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. Samarpita Basu & Katherine R. M. Mackey, 2022. "Effect of Rising Temperature and Carbon Dioxide on the Growth, Photophysiology, and Elemental Ratios of Marine Synechococcus : A Multistressor Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-21, August.
    5. Heike H. Zimmermann & Kathleen R. Stoof-Leichsenring & Viktor Dinkel & Lars Harms & Luise Schulte & Marc-Thorsten Hütt & Dirk Nürnberg & Ralf Tiedemann & Ulrike Herzschuh, 2023. "Marine ecosystem shifts with deglacial sea-ice loss inferred from ancient DNA shotgun sequencing," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-13, December.
    6. Mihaela Sterpu & Carmen Rocşoreanu & Raluca Efrem & Sue Ann Campbell, 2023. "Stability and Bifurcations in a Nutrient–Phytoplankton–Zooplankton Model with Delayed Nutrient Recycling with Gamma Distribution," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-24, June.
    7. Charissa M. Ferrera & Gil S. Jacinto & Chen-Tung Arthur Chen & Hon-Kit Lui, 2018. "Organic Carbon Concentrations in High- and Low-Productivity Areas of the Sulu Sea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-19, June.
    8. Heneghan, Ryan F. & Everett, Jason D. & Sykes, Patrick & Batten, Sonia D. & Edwards, Martin & Takahashi, Kunio & Suthers, Iain M. & Blanchard, Julia L. & Richardson, Anthony J., 2020. "A functional size-spectrum model of the global marine ecosystem that resolves zooplankton composition," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 435(C).

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