1. Global marine plankton functional type biomass distributions: coccolithophores
- Author
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E. Kopczyńska, M. Heinle, Richard Lee, J. A. Peloquin, Claire E. Widdicombe, Alex J. Poulton, Nicolas Gruber, Meike Vogt, Javier Arístegui, Marta Estrada, Luc Beaufort, Colleen J. O'Brien, Tim Pritchard, D. Karentz, Penelope A. Ajani, Harald Andruleit, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics [ETH Zürich] (IBP), Department of Environmental Systems Science [ETH Zürich] (D-USYS), Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] (ETH Zürich)- Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule - Swiss Federal Institute of Technology [Zürich] (ETH Zürich), University of East Anglia [Norwich] (UEA), Macquarie University, Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe (BGR), Instituto de Oceanografía y Cambio Global (IOCAG), Université de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria [Espagne] (ULPGC), Centre européen de recherche et d'enseignement des géosciences de l'environnement (CEREGE), Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Marine Sciences / Institut de Ciències del Mar [Barcelona] (ICM), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas [Madrid] (CSIC), University of San Francisco (USF), Institute of Biochemistry & Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN), National Oceanography Centre (NOC), Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Collège de France (CdF (institution))-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), Environmental Physics, Institute for Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, Environmental Physics, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Collège de France (CdF)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Aix Marseille Université (AMU)-Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA)
- Subjects
0106 biological sciences ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Coccolithophore ,Equator ,[SDU.STU]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences ,01 natural sciences ,Carbon cycle ,Phytoplankton ,14. Life underwater ,Southern Hemisphere ,lcsh:Environmental sciences ,[SDU.STU.OC]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Oceanography ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences ,lcsh:GE1-350 ,Biomass (ecology) ,biology ,010604 marine biology & hydrobiology ,lcsh:QE1-996.5 ,Northern Hemisphere ,Plankton ,biology.organism_classification ,lcsh:Geology ,Oceanography ,13. Climate action ,General Earth and Planetary Sciences ,Environmental science - Abstract
O'Brien, C.J. ... et. al.-- 18 pages, 8 figures, 6 tables, Coccolithophores are calcifying marine phytoplankton of the class Prymnesiophyceae. They are considered to play an import role in the global carbon cycle through the production and export of organic carbon and calcite. We have compiled observations of global coccolithophore abundance from several existing databases as well as individual contributions of published and unpublished datasets. We make conservative estimates of carbon biomass using standardised conversion methods and provide estimates of uncertainty associated with these values. The quality-controlled database contains 57 321 individual observations at various taxonomic levels. This corresponds to 11 503 observations of total coccolithophore abundance and biomass. The data span a time period of 1929-2008, with observations from all ocean basins and all seasons, and at depths ranging from the surface to 500 m. Highest biomass values are reported in the North Atlantic, with a maximum of 127.2 μg C L-1. Lower values are reported for the Pacific (maximum of 20.0 μg C L-1) and Indian Ocean (up to 45.2 μg C L-1). Maximum biomass values show peaks around 60° N and between 40 and 20° S, with declines towards both the equator and the poles. Biomass estimates between the equator and 40° N are below 5 μg C L-1. Biomass values show a clear seasonal cycle in the Northern Hemisphere, reaching a maximum in the summer months (June-July). In the Southern Hemisphere the seasonal cycle is less evident, possibly due to a greater proportion of low-latitude data. The original and gridded datasets can be downloaded from Pangaea (doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.785092). © Author(s) 2013, The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7 2007–2013) under grant agreement number (238366). M. Vogt, J. A. Peloquin and N. Gruber acknowledge funding from ETH Zurich
- Published
- 2013
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