scholarly journals Picoheterotroph (<i>Bacteria</i> and <i>Archaea</i>) biomass distribution in the global ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 101-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Buitenhuis ◽  
W. K. W. Li ◽  
M. W. Lomas ◽  
D. M. Karl ◽  
M. R. Landry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Conversion Factor ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Biomass Distribution ◽  
Carbon Biomass ◽  
Flow Cytometric ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Ocean Measurements ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Carbon Inventory

Abstract. We compiled a database of 39 766 data points consisting of flow cytometric and microscopical measurements of picoheterotroph abundance, including both Bacteria and Archaea. After gridding with 1° spacing, the database covers 1.3% of the ocean surface. There are data covering all ocean basins and depths except the Southern Hemisphere below 350 m or from April until June. The average picoheterotroph biomass is 3.9 &amp;pm; 3.6 μg C l−1 with a 20-fold decrease between the surface and the deep sea. We estimate a total ocean inventory of about 1.3 × 1029 picoheterotroph cells. Surprisingly, the abundance in the coastal regions is the same as at the same depths in the open ocean. Using an average of published open ocean measurements for the conversion from abundance to carbon biomass of 9.1 fg cell−1, we calculate a picoheterotroph carbon inventory of about 1.2 Pg C. The main source of uncertainty in this inventory is the conversion factor from abundance to biomass. Picoheterotroph biomass is ~2 times higher in the tropics than in the polar oceans. doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.779142

scholarly journals Bacterial biomass distribution in the global ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 301-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Buitenhuis ◽  
W. K. W. Li ◽  
M. W. Lomas ◽  
D. M. Karl ◽  
M. R. Landry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Deep Sea ◽  
Bacterial Abundance ◽  
Conversion Factor ◽  
Bacterial Biomass ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Biomass Distribution ◽  
Carbon Biomass ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Ocean Measurements ◽  
Carbon Inventory

Abstract. We compiled a database of bacterial abundance of 39 766 data points. After gridding with 1° spacing, the database covers 1.3% of the ocean surface. There is data covering all ocean basins and depth except the Southern Hemisphere below 350 m or from April until June. The average bacterial biomass is 3.9 ± 3.6 μg l−1 with a 20-fold decrease between the surface and the deep sea. We estimate a total ocean inventory of about 1.3 × 1029 bacteria. Using an average of published open ocean measurements for the conversion from abundance to carbon biomass of 9.1 fg cell−1, we calculate a bacterial carbon inventory of about 1.2 Pg C. The main source of uncertainty in this inventory is the conversion factor from abundance to biomass. http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.779142

scholarly journals Picophytoplankton biomass distribution in the global ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Buitenhuis ◽  
W. K. W. Li ◽  
D. Vaulot ◽  
M. W. Lomas ◽  
M. R. Landry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Marine Phytoplankton ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Biomass Distribution ◽  
The North ◽  
Carbon Biomass ◽  
The World ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Data Coverage

Abstract. The smallest marine phytoplankton, collectively termed picophytoplankton, have been routinely enumerated by flow cytometry since the late 1980s during cruises throughout most of the world ocean. We compiled a database of 40 946 data points, with separate abundance entries for Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes. We use average conversion factors for each of the three groups to convert the abundance data to carbon biomass. After gridding with 1° spacing, the database covers 2.4% of the ocean surface area, with the best data coverage in the North Atlantic, the South Pacific and North Indian basins, and at least some data in all other basins. The average picophytoplankton biomass is 12 &amp;pm; 22 μg C l−1 or 1.9 g C m−2. We estimate a total global picophytoplankton biomass of 0.53–1.32 Pg C (17–39% Prochlorococcus, 12–15% Synechococcus and 49–69% picoeukaryotes), with an intermediate/best estimate of 0.74 Pg C. Future efforts in this area of research should focus on reporting calibrated cell size and collecting data in undersampled regions. http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.777385

scholarly journals Picophytoplankton biomass distribution in the global ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 221-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Buitenhuis ◽  
W. K. W. Li ◽  
D. Vaulot ◽  
M. W. Lomas ◽  
M. Landry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Marine Phytoplankton ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Biomass Distribution ◽  
The North ◽  
Carbon Biomass ◽  
The World ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Data Coverage

Abstract. The smallest marine phytoplankton, collectively termed picophytoplankton, have been routinely enumerated by flow cytometry since the late 1980s, during cruises throughout most of the world ocean. We compiled a database of 40 946 data points, with separate abundance entries for Prochlorococcus, Synechococcus and picoeukaryotes. We use average conversion factors for each of the three groups to convert the abundance data to carbon biomass. After gridding with 1° spacing, the database covers 2.4% of the ocean surface area, with the best data coverage in the North Atlantic, the South Pacific and North Indian basins. The average picophytoplankton biomass is 12 &amp;pm; 22 μg C l−1 or 1.9 g C m−2. We estimate a total global picophytoplankton biomass of 0.53–0.74 Pg C (17–39% Prochlorococcus, 12–15% Synechococcus and 49–69% picoeukaryotes). Future efforts in this area of research should focus on reporting calibrated cell size, and collecting data in undersampled regions.

scholarly journals Distribution of mesozooplankton biomass in the global ocean

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 893-919
Author(s):  
R. Moriarty ◽  
T. D. O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Ecosystem Models ◽  
Mesozooplankton Biomass ◽  
Carbon Biomass ◽  
Community Effort ◽  
Marine Ecosystem Models ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. Mesozooplankton are cosmopolitan within the sunlit layers of the global ocean. They are important in the classical food web, having a significant feedback to primary production through their consumption of phytoplankton and microzooplankton. They are also the primary contributor to vertical particle flux in the oceans. Through both they affect the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other nutrients in the oceans. Little, however, is known about their global distribution and biomass. While global maps of mesozooplankton biomass do exist in the literature they are usually in the form of hand-drawn maps and the original data associated with these maps are not readily available. The dataset presented in this synthesis has been in development since the late 1990's, is an integral part of the Coastal &amp; Oceanic Plankton Ecology, Production, &amp; Observation Database (COPEPOD), and is now also part of a wider community effort to provide a global picture of carbon biomass data for key plankton functional types, in particular to support the development of marine ecosystem models. A total of 153 163 biomass values were collected, from a variety of sources, for mesozooplankton. Of those 2% were originally recorded as dry mass, 26% as wet mass, 5% as settled volume, and 68% as displacement volume. Using a variety of non-linear biomass conversions from the literature, the data have been converted from their original units to carbon biomass. Depth-integrated values were then used to calculate mesozooplankton global biomass. Global mesozooplankton biomass, to a depth of 200 m, had a mean of 5.9 μg C l−1, median of 2.7 μg C l−1 and a standard deviation of 10.6 μg C l−1. The global annual average estimate of mesozooplankton, based on the median value, was 0.19 Pg C. Biomass was highest in the Northern Hemisphere, but the general trend shows a slight decrease from polar oceans to temperate regions with values increasing again in the tropics. Gridded dataset http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.785501x.

scholarly journals Distribution of mesozooplankton biomass in the global ocean

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Moriarty ◽  
T. D. O'Brien
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Original Data ◽  
Dry Mass ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Ecosystem Models ◽  
Mesozooplankton Biomass ◽  
Carbon Biomass ◽  
Community Effort ◽  
Marine Ecosystem Models ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. Mesozooplankton are cosmopolitan within the sunlit layers of the global ocean. They are important in the pelagic food web, having a significant feedback to primary production through their consumption of phytoplankton and microzooplankton. In many regions of the global ocean, they are also the primary contributors to vertical particle flux in the oceans. Through both they affect the biogeochemical cycling of carbon and other nutrients in the oceans. Little, however, is known about their global distribution and biomass. While global maps of mesozooplankton biomass do exist in the literature, they are usually in the form of hand-drawn maps for which the original data associated with these maps are not readily available. The dataset presented in this synthesis has been in development since the late 1990s, is an integral part of the Coastal and Oceanic Plankton Ecology, Production, and Observation Database (COPEPOD), and is now also part of a wider community effort to provide a global picture of carbon biomass data for key plankton functional types, in particular to support the development of marine ecosystem models. A total of 153 163 biomass values were collected, from a variety of sources, for mesozooplankton. Of those 2% were originally recorded as dry mass, 26% as wet mass, 5% as settled volume, and 68% as displacement volume. Using a variety of non-linear biomass conversions from the literature, the data have been converted from their original units to carbon biomass. Depth-integrated values were then used to calculate an estimate of mesozooplankton global biomass. Global epipelagic mesozooplankton biomass, to a depth of 200 m, had a mean of 5.9 μg C L−1, median of 2.7 μg C L−1 and a standard deviation of 10.6 μg C L−1. The global annual average estimate of mesozooplankton in the top 200 m, based on the median value, was 0.19 Pg C. Biomass was highest in the Northern Hemisphere, and there were slight decreases from polar oceans (40–90°) to more temperate regions (15–40°) in both hemispheres. Values in the tropics (15° N–15° S) were intermediate between those at the northern and southern temperate latitudes. Datasets available at doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.785501.

scholarly journals MAREDAT: towards a World Ocean Atlas of MARine Ecosystem DATa

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 1077-1106 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Buitenhuis ◽  
M. Vogt ◽  
R. Moriarty ◽  
N. Bednaršek ◽  
S. C. Doney ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
World Ocean ◽  
Zooplankton Biomass ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Biomass Distribution ◽  
Phytoplankton Pigment ◽  
Autotrophic Biomass ◽  
Ocean Ecosystem ◽  
World Ocean Atlas

Abstract. We present a summary of biomass data for 11 Plankton Functional Types (PFTs) plus phytoplankton pigment data, compiled as part of the MARine Ecosystem biomass DATa (MAREDAT) initiative. The goal of the MAREDAT initiative is to provide global gridded data products with coverage of all biological components of the global ocean ecosystem. This special issue is the first step towards achieving this. The PFTs presented here include picophytoplankton, diazotrophs, coccolithophores, Phaeocystis, diatoms, picoheterotrophs, microzooplankton, foraminifers, mesozooplankton, pteropods and macrozooplankton. All variables have been gridded onto a World Ocean Atlas (WOA) grid (1° × 1° × 33 vertical levels × monthly climatologies). The data show that (1) the global total heterotrophic biomass (2.0–6.4 Pg C) is at least as high as the total autotrophic biomass (0.5–2.6 Pg C excluding nanophytoplankton and autotrophic dinoflagellates), (2) the biomass of zooplankton calcifiers (0.9–2.3 Pg C) is substantially higher than that of coccolithophores (0.01–0.14 Pg C), (3) patchiness of biomass distribution increases with organism size, and (4) although zooplankton biomass measurements below 200 m are rare, the limited measurements available suggest that Bacteria and Archaea are not the only heterotrophs in the deep sea. More data will be needed to characterize ocean ecosystem functioning and associated biogeochemistry in the Southern Hemisphere and below 200 m. Microzooplankton database: doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.779970.

scholarly journals Recent changes in the global and regional carbon cycle: analysis of first-order diagnostics

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 835-844 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. J. Rayner ◽  
A. Stavert ◽  
M. Scholze ◽  
A. Ahlström ◽  
C. E. Allison ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Cycle ◽  
Linear Response ◽  
Anthropogenic Emissions ◽  
Seasonal Patterns ◽  
Atmospheric Concentration ◽  
First Order ◽  
Northern Summer ◽  
Data Points ◽  
Natural Carbon ◽  
The Tropics

Abstract. We analyse global and regional changes in CO2 fluxes using two simple models, an airborne fraction of anthropogenic emissions and a linear relationship with CO2 concentrations. We show that both models are able to fit the non-anthropogenic (hereafter natural) flux over the length of the atmospheric concentration record. Analysis of the linear model (including its uncertainties) suggests no significant decrease in the response of the natural carbon cycle. Recent data points rather to an increase. We apply the same linear diagnostic to fluxes from atmospheric inversions. Flux responses show clear regional and seasonal patterns driven by terrestrial uptake in the northern summer. Ocean fluxes show little or no linear response. Terrestrial models show clear responses, agreeing globally with the inversion responses, however the spatial structure is quite different, with dominant responses in the tropics rather than the northern extratropics.

scholarly journals Emergence of multiple ocean ecosystem drivers in a large ensemble suite with an Earth system model

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 3301-3320 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. B. Rodgers ◽  
J. Lin ◽  
T. L. Frölicher
Keyword(s):  
Southern Ocean ◽  
Marine Ecosystem ◽  
Marine Ecosystems ◽  
Earth System Model ◽  
System Model ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Earth System ◽  
Biological Productivity ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Ecosystem Drivers

Abstract. Marine ecosystems are increasingly stressed by human-induced changes. Marine ecosystem drivers that contribute to stressing ecosystems – including warming, acidification, deoxygenation and perturbations to biological productivity – can co-occur in space and time, but detecting their trends is complicated by the presence of noise associated with natural variability in the climate system. Here we use large initial-condition ensemble simulations with an Earth system model under a historical/RCP8.5 (representative concentration pathway 8.5) scenario over 1950–2100 to consider emergence characteristics for the four individual and combined drivers. Using a 1-standard-deviation (67% confidence) threshold of signal to noise to define emergence with a 30-year trend window, we show that ocean acidification emerges much earlier than other drivers, namely during the 20th century over most of the global ocean. For biological productivity, the anthropogenic signal does not emerge from the noise over most of the global ocean before the end of the 21st century. The early emergence pattern for sea surface temperature in low latitudes is reversed from that of subsurface oxygen inventories, where emergence occurs earlier in the Southern Ocean. For the combined multiple-driver field, 41% of the global ocean exhibits emergence for the 2005–2014 period, and 63% for the 2075–2084 period. The combined multiple-driver field reveals emergence patterns by the end of this century that are relatively high over much of the Southern Ocean, North Pacific, and Atlantic, but relatively low over the tropics and the South Pacific. For the case of two drivers, the tropics including habitats of coral reefs emerges earliest, with this driven by the joint effects of acidification and warming. It is precisely in the regions with pronounced emergence characteristics where marine ecosystems may be expected to be pushed outside of their comfort zone determined by the degree of natural background variability to which they are adapted. The results underscore the importance of sustained multi-decadal observing systems for monitoring multiple ecosystems drivers.

scholarly journals Interannual response of global ocean hindcasts to a satellite-based correction of precipitation fluxes

2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 611-648 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Storto ◽  
I. Russo ◽  
S. Masina
Keyword(s):  
Ocean Circulation ◽  
Surface Current ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Surface Salinity ◽  
Near Surface ◽  
Convergence Zones ◽  
Circumpolar Current ◽  
The Tropics ◽  
Spatially Varying ◽  
The Antarctic

Abstract. We present a methodology to correct precipitation fluxes from the ECMWF atmospheric reanalysis (ERA-Interim) for oceanographic applications. The correction is performed by means of a spatially varying monthly climatological coefficient, computed within the period 1989–2008 by comparison between ERA-Interim and a satellite-based passive microwave precipitation product. ERA-Interim exhibits a systematic over-estimation of precipitation within the inter-tropical convergence zones (up to 3 mm d−1) and under-estimation at mid- and high- latitudes (up to −4 mm d−1). The correction has been validated within eddy-permitting resolution global ocean hindcasts (1989–2009), demonstrating the ability of our strategy in attenuating the 20-yr mean global EMP negative imbalance by 16%, reducing the near-surface salinity fresh bias in the Tropics up to 1 psu and improving the representation of the sea level interannual variability, with an SSH error decrease of 8%. The ocean circulation is also proved to benefit from the correction, especially in correspondence of the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, where the error in the near-surface current speed decreases by a 9%. Finally, we show that the correction leads to volume and freshwater transports that better agree with independent estimates.

scholarly journals Photobleaching as a factor controlling spectral characteristics of chromophoric dissolved organic matter in open ocean

2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 7207-7217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Y. Yamashita ◽  
Y. Nosaka ◽  
K. Suzuki ◽  
H. Ogawa ◽  
K. Takahashi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Organic Matter ◽  
Dissolved Organic Matter ◽  
Surface Waters ◽  
Spectral Characteristics ◽  
Open Ocean ◽  
Global Ocean ◽  
Chromophoric Dissolved Organic Matter ◽  
Spectral Slope ◽  
Subtropical Region ◽  
Subarctic Region

Abstract. Chromophoric dissolved organic matter (CDOM) ubiquitously occurs in marine environments and plays a significant role in the marine biogeochemical cycles. Basin scale distributions of CDOM have recently been surveyed in the global ocean and indicate that quantity and quality of oceanic CDOM are mainly controlled by in situ production and photobleaching. However, factors controlling the spectral parameters of CDOM in the UV region, i.e., spectral slope of CDOM determined at 275–295 nm (S275–295) and the ratio of two spectral slope parameters (SR); the ratio of S275–295 to S350–400, have not been well documented. To evaluate the factor controlling the spectral characteristics of CDOM in the UV region in the open ocean, we determined the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of CDOM in the subarctic and subtropical surface waters (5–300 m) of the western North Pacific. Absorption coefficients at 320 nm in the subarctic region were higher than those in the subtropical region throughout surface waters, suggesting that magnitudes of photobleaching were different between the two regions. The values of S275–295 and SR were also higher in the subtropical region than the subarctic region. The dark microbial incubation showed biodegradation of DOM little affected S275–295, but slightly decreased SR. On the other hand, increases in S275–295 and relative stableness of SR were observed during photo-irradiation incubations respectively. These experimental results indicated that photobleaching of CDOM mainly induced qualitative differences in CDOM at UV region between the subarctic and subtropical surface waters. The results of this study imply that S275–295 can be used as a tracer of photochemical history of CDOM in the open ocean.

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