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Author Spotlight: Unveiling Plankton Response to Climate Change Through Time-Series Data and Artistic Expression
Published on: July 28, 2023
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Major restructuring of marine plankton assemblages under global warming
Fabio Benedetti1, Meike Vogt2, Urs Hofmann Elizondo2
1Environmental Physics, Institute of Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, Zürich, Switzerland. fabio.benedetti@usys.ethz.ch.
Nature Communications
|September 2, 2021
Summary
Climate change is projected to increase marine plankton species richness and cause poleward shifts, impacting ocean food webs and carbon sequestration services.
Area of Science:
- Marine biology
- Climate change science
- Ecology
Background:
- Marine phytoplankton and zooplankton are crucial to ocean food webs.
- The effects of climate change on plankton biodiversity remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To model present and future habitat suitability for marine plankton species.
- To assess the impact of climate change on plankton biodiversity and distribution.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an ensemble of species distribution models.
- Modeled 336 phytoplankton and 524 zooplankton species.
- Projected changes under a high emission scenario for the end of the century.
Main Results:
- Projected increase in overall plankton species richness due to ocean warming.
- Median poleward shift of species distributions at 35 km/decade.
- Phytoplankton richness increase (>16%) except in the Arctic; zooplankton richness declines in tropics, increases in temperate/subpolar latitudes.
- Significant replacement (nearly 40%) of plankton assemblages in temperate to subpolar regions.
Conclusions:
- Climate change drives significant shifts in marine plankton distribution and community composition.
- Increased plankton richness and poleward migration are anticipated.
- These changes pose a threat to plankton-mediated ecosystem services, including biological carbon sequestration.
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