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Global pattern of phytoplankton diversity driven by temperature and environmental variability
Damiano Righetti1, Meike Vogt1, Nicolas Gruber1
1Environmental Physics, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland.
Science Advances
|May 21, 2019
Summary
Marine phytoplankton diversity is highest in the tropics and driven by temperature. However, cooler waters show lower-than-expected richness, indicating complex biodiversity responses to ocean warming.
Area of Science:
- Marine ecology
- Oceanography
- Biodiversity science
Background:
- Global patterns of marine phytoplankton diversity are poorly understood.
- Temperature is a known driver of marine biodiversity, but its specific impact on phytoplankton is unclear.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize global phytoplankton species richness patterns.
- To investigate the role of temperature in driving phytoplankton diversity.
Main Methods:
- Utilized niche modeling and over 540,000 global phytoplankton observations.
- Predicted biogeographic patterns for 536 phytoplankton species.
Main Results:
- Phytoplankton richness is approximately three times higher in the tropics than in higher latitudes, with temperature as the primary driver.
- Richness is lower than predicted in waters below 19°C, particularly between 8°-14°C.
- Areas with reduced richness exhibit high species turnover and environmental variability.
Conclusions:
- Temperature significantly influences marine phytoplankton diversity, aligning with metabolic theory in warmer waters.
- Environmental variability and species turnover may directly reduce phytoplankton richness in cooler regions.
- The non-monotonic relationship between temperature and phytoplankton richness highlights complex responses to ocean warming.
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