Rising CO2 and increased light exposure synergistically reduce marine primary productivity
By K. Gao, Juntian Xu, Guang Gao, Yahe Li, D. Hutchins, Bangqin Huang, Lei Wang, Ying Zheng, Peng Jin, Xiaoni Cai and 5 more. 2012
356 citations recorded by the source corpus.
Carbon dioxide and light are two major prerequisites of photosynthesis. Rising CO2 levels in oceanic surface waters in combination with ample light supply are therefore often considered stimulatory to marine primary production(1-3). Here we show that the combination of an increase in both CO2 and light exposure negatively impacts photosynthesis and growth of marine primary producers. When exposed to CO2 concentrations projected for the end of this century(4), natural phytoplankton assemblages of the South China Sea responded with decreased primary production and increased light stress at light intensities representative of the upper surface layer. The phytoplankton community shifted away from diatoms, the dominant phytoplankton group during our field campaigns. To examine the underlying mechanisms of the observed responses, we grew diatoms at different CO2 concentrations and under varying levels (5-100%) of solar radiation experienced by the phytoplankton at different depths of the euphotic zone. Above 22-36% of incident surface irradiance, growth rates in the high-CO2-grown cells were inversely related to light levels and exhibited reduced thresholds at which light becomes inhibitory. Future shoaling of upper-mixed-layer depths will expose phytoplankton to increased mean light intensities(5). In combination with rising CO2 levels, this may cause a widespread decline in marine primary production and a community shift away from diatoms, the main algal group that supports higher trophic levels and carbon export in the ocean.
Subfields: Oceanography
View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c050b236568c063f5c6dd37310957d5a54967373
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In Oceanography
Citations in the corpus
- Ulva rigida in the future ocean: potential for carbon capture, bioremediation and biomethane production (2018, background): “It has been suggested that CO2-induced global warming would lead to increased stratification of the water column, resulting in decreasing nutrient transport from the deep ocean to the upper ocean and increasing light exposure (Falkowski et al., 2000; Gao et al., 2012).”
- Physiological response of a golden tide alga ( Sargassum muticum ) to the interaction of ocean acidification and phosphorus enrichment (2016, neutral): “…there is more ATP available at the condition of higher p CO 2 due to the down-regulation of CCMs and thus there is no need to synthesize more Chl a to capture more light for cells as excessive energy can lead to the harm to photosynthesis and growth of algae (Gao et al., 2012; Xu and Gao, 2012).”