Reduced calcification of marine plankton in response to increased atmospheric CO2

Ulf Riebesell (), Ingrid Zondervan, Björn Rost, Philippe D. Tortell, Richard E. Zeebe and François M. M. Morel
Additional contact information
Ulf Riebesell: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Ingrid Zondervan: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Björn Rost: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
Philippe D. Tortell: Princeton University
Richard E. Zeebe: Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research
François M. M. Morel: Princeton University

Nature, 2000, vol. 407, issue 6802, 364-367

Abstract: Abstract The formation of calcareous skeletons by marine planktonic organisms and their subsequent sinking to depth generates a continuous rain of calcium carbonate to the deep ocean and underlying sediments1. This is important in regulating marine carbon cycling and ocean–atmosphere CO2 exchange2. The present rise in atmospheric CO2 levels3 causes significant changes in surface ocean pH and carbonate chemistry4. Such changes have been shown to slow down calcification in corals and coralline macroalgae5,6, but the majority of marine calcification occurs in planktonic organisms. Here we report reduced calcite production at increased CO2 concentrations in monospecific cultures of two dominant marine calcifying phytoplankton species, the coccolithophorids Emiliania huxleyi and Gephyrocapsa oceanica . This was accompanied by an increased proportion of malformed coccoliths and incomplete coccospheres. Diminished calcification led to a reduction in the ratio of calcite precipitation to organic matter production. Similar results were obtained in incubations of natural plankton assemblages from the north Pacific ocean when exposed to experimentally elevated CO2 levels. We suggest that the progressive increase in atmospheric CO2 concentrations may therefore slow down the production of calcium carbonate in the surface ocean. As the process of calcification releases CO2 to the atmosphere, the response observed here could potentially act as a negative feedback on atmospheric CO2 levels.

Date: 2000
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/35030078 Abstract (text/html)
Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:nature:v:407:y:2000:i:6802:d:10.1038_35030078

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/

DOI: 10.1038/35030078

Access Statistics for this article

Nature is currently edited by Magdalena Skipper

More articles in Nature from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().