Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jul 15, 2026
08:15
Visualizing Oceanographic Data to Depict Long-term Changes in Phytoplankton
Published on: July 28, 2023
Southern Ocean regime shift: divergent trends in surface phytoplankton community composition using a diagnostic
Nurmalia Adroli1,2, Alexander Hayward3, Peter Strutton4,5
1The Australian National University, Research School of Earth Science, Canberra, ACT, Australia. nurmalia.adroli@anu.edu.au.
Nature Communications
|July 13, 2026
Summary
Southern Ocean phytoplankton communities are shifting due to sea-ice changes. Diatoms increased in spring but decreased in summer, impacting the biological carbon pump (BCP).
Area of Science:
- Marine ecology
- Oceanography
- Climate science
Background:
- Phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean (SO) are crucial for the biological carbon pump (BCP), regulating global climate.
- Ocean warming and sea-ice variability significantly influence SO phytoplankton communities and BCP functioning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a Southern Ocean-diagnostic pigment framework using pigment and satellite data.
- To resolve phytoplankton community composition changes between 1998-2014 and 2015-2024.
- To assess the impact of a sea-ice extent decrease on phytoplankton composition.
Main Methods:
- Combined an expanded circumpolar surface pigment dataset with satellite ocean-colour observations.
- Developed a diagnostic pigment framework for phytoplankton community composition.
- Compared multi-year mean compositions for two distinct time periods (1998-2014 and 2015-2024).
Main Results:
- A ~7% decrease in September sea-ice extent was observed between the two study periods.
- Diatom contribution to total chlorophyll increased by up to ~10% in spring in sea-ice-influenced regions.
- Diatom contribution decreased by up to ~3% over the Antarctic shelf during summer.
Conclusions:
- Phytoplankton community composition in the SO exhibits seasonal and spatial variability in response to sea-ice changes.
- These shifts may alter bloom dynamics and carbon-export efficiency.
- The functioning of the SO BCP is likely to be impacted by ongoing climate-driven sea-ice variability.
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