Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 109, Issue 23, Pages 8845-8849Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1117508109
Keywords
phytoplankton; North Atlantic; climate change
Categories
Funding
- European Community [211384]
- European Union [EVK2-CT-2000-00088]
- Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
- NERC [noc010009] Funding Source: UKRI
- Natural Environment Research Council [noc010009] Funding Source: researchfish
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Coccolithophores are an important component of the Earth system, and, as calcifiers, their possible susceptibility to ocean acidification is of major concern. Laboratory studies at enhanced pCO(2) levels have produced divergent results without overall consensus. However, it has been predicted from these studies that, although calcification may not be depressed in all species, acidification will produce a transition in dominance from more to less heavily calcified coccolithophores [Ridgwell A, et al., (2009) Biogeosciences 6:2611-2623]. A recent observational study [Beaufort L, et al., (2011) Nature 476:80-83] also suggested that coccolithophores are less calcified in more acidic conditions. We present the results of a large observational study of coccolithophore morphology in the Bay of Biscay. Samples were collected once a month for over a year, along a 1,000-km-long transect. Our data clearly show that there is a pronounced seasonality in the morphotypes of Emiliania huxleyi, the most abundant coccolithophore species. Whereas pH and CaCO3 saturation are lowest in winter, the E. huxleyi population shifts from <10% (summer) to >90% (winter) of the heavily calcified form. However, it is unlikely that the shifts in carbonate chemistry alone caused the morphotype shift. Our finding that the most heavily calcified morphotype dominates when conditions are most acidic is contrary to the earlier predictions and raises further questions about the fate of coccolithophores in a high-CO2 world.
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