Global marine plankton functional type biomass distributions: <i>Phaeocystis</i> sp.

Abstract

Abstract. The planktonic haptophyte Phaeocystis has been suggested to play a fundamental role in the global biogeochemical cycling of carbon and sulphur, but little is known about its global biomass distribution. We have collected global microscopy data of the genus Phaeocystis and converted abundance data to carbon biomass using species-specific carbon conversion factors. Microscopic counts of single-celled and colonial Phaeocystis were obtained both through the mining of online databases and by accepting direct submissions (both published and unpublished) from Phaeocystis specialists. We recorded abundance data from a total of 1595 depth-resolved stations sampled between 1955–2009. The quality-controlled dataset includes 5057 counts of individual Phaeocystis cells resolved to species level and information regarding life-stages from 3526 samples. 83% of stations were located in the Northern Hemisphere while 17% were located in the Southern Hemisphere. Most data were located in the latitude range of 50–70° N. While the seasonal distribution of Northern Hemisphere data was well-balanced, Southern Hemisphere data was biased towards summer months. Mean species- and form-specific cell diameters were determined from previously published studies. Cell diameters were used to calculate the cellular biovolume of Phaeocystis cells, assuming spherical geometry. Cell biomass was calculated using a carbon conversion factor for Prymnesiophytes (Menden-Deuer and Lessard, 2000). For colonies, the number of cells per colony was derived from the colony volume. Cell numbers were then converted to carbon concentrations. An estimation of colonial mucus carbon was included a posteriori, assuming a mean colony size for each species. Carbon content per cell ranged from 9 pg (single-celled Phaeocystis antarctica) to 29 pg (colonial Phaeocystis globosa). Non-zero Phaeocystis cell biomasses (without mucus carbon) range from 2.9 × 10−5 μg l−1 to 5.4 × 103 μg l−1, with a mean of 45.7 μg l−1 and a median of 3.0 μg l−1. Highest biomasses occur in the Southern Ocean below 70° S (up to 783.9 μg l−1), and in the North Atlantic around 50° N (up to 5.4 × 103 μg l−1). The original and gridded data can be downloaded from PANGAEA, http://doi.pangaea.de/10.1594/PANGAEA.779101.

Effects of elevated CO2 on phytoplankton community biomass and species composition during a spring Phaeocystis spp. bloom in the western English Channel

“…biomass, was recorded during spring (northern hemisphere) with more observations in the month of April compared to March and May, which we also observed in our time-series analysis. Vogt et al (2012) also showed that the minimum and maximum Phaeocystis spp. biomass was between 2.9 Â 10 À5 mg C m À3 and 5.4 Â 10 3 mg C m À3 , with a global mean of 45.7 mg C m À3 for both northern and southern hemispheres, which is similar to the mean at station L4 (41.6 mg C m À3 ).…”

“…On a global level, using 5057 observations from 1955 to 2009Vogt et al (2012 showed that 64% of Phaeocystis spp. biomass, was recorded during spring (northern hemisphere) with more observations in the month of April compared to March and May, which we also observed in our time-series analysis.…”

Improving the Remote Sensing Retrieval of Phytoplankton Functional Types (PFT) Using Empirical Orthogonal Functions: A Case Study in a Coastal Upwelling Region

“…The worldwide distribution of Phaeocystis is poorly understood but the locations that it is abundant in have been reported in the Southern Ocean southward of 70°S and in the North Atlantic northward of 50°N [34]. In the coastal upwelling system off Peru, the presence of Phaeocystis globosa has been reported during iron-fertilization experiments [39].…”

“…This type of information is generally scarce because it requires intense field measurements and laboratory analyses [34]. A first version of a synthetic matrix Rs, containing reference values for PFT, can be obtained from the PHYSAT acceptable ranges of radiance anomalies ( Figure 4) [22,24,27] following the procedure detailed in Appendix B.…”

“…Furthermore, no data on Coccolithophorids and Phaeocystis were obtained in this cruise. However, satellite estimates of Phaeocystis were compared using the available databases (BODC: British Oceanographic Data Centre; OBIS: Ocean Biogeographic Information System; OCB DMO: Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry Coordination and Data Management Office; Pangea: Data Publisher for Earth and Environmental Science; WOD09: World Ocean Database 2009; and US JGOFS: US Joint Global Ocean Flux Study) compiled by the MARine Ecosystem DATa (MAREDAT) initiative [34]. The dataset used here (141 samples) was restricted to samples collected during cloud-free days following the launch of the MODIS-Aqua mission (July 2002).…”