Marine picoplankton response to climate change
- This page is part of the topic Marine biology over the next 100 years
As a result of atmospheric circulation changes and sea surface temperatures rising in polar oceans, sea ice is expected to diminish, surface ocean stratification is expected to increase, and mixed layer depths are expected to reduce. The response of picoplankton (small eukaryotic protists and most bacteria) to such changes is largely unknown – but a few predictions can be made. Firstly, rising temperatures might enhance bacterial growth rates, cell numbers and secondary productivity. Increases in primary production, and the species and functional group composition of phytoplankton might strengthen microbial loop linkages (Falkowski et al., 1998[1]; Falkowski and Oliver, 2007[2]; Moline et al., 2000[3]). Increases in dissolved organic matter production might fuel the growth of bacterioplankton, thereby creating a positive feedback to organic carbon cycling (Ducklow et al., in press). How these processes, and habitat changes (i.e. loss of sea ice) will impact microbial diversity and community structure is unknown. Studies are needed to consider different scenarios both experimentally and computationally to inform future models and enhance our understanding of Southern Ocean microbial ecology.
References
- ↑ Falkowski, P.G., Barber, R.T. and Smetacek, V. 1998. Biogeochemical controls and feedbacks on ocean primary production, Science, 281, 200-206.
- ↑ Falkowski, P.G. and Oliver, M.J. 2007. Mix and match: how climate selects phytoplankton, Nature Reviews of Microbiology, 5, 813-819.
- ↑ Moline, M.A., Claustre, H., Frazer, T.K., Grzymski, J., Schofield, O.M. and Vernet, M. 2000. Changes in phytoplankton assemblages along the Antarctic Peninsula and potential implications for the Antarctic food web. In: Antarctic Ecosystems: Models for Wider Ecological Understanding. W. Davidson, C. Howard-Williams, P. Broady (eds), 263-271.
