Cargando…

Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll

Chlorophyll biomass in the surface ocean is regulated by a complex interaction of physiological, oceanographic, and ecological factors and in turn regulates the rates of primary production and export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Mechanistic models of phytoplankton responses to climate change...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Irwin, Andrew J., Finkel, Zoe V.
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2008
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2584232/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19043583
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836
_version_ 1782160800727695360
author Irwin, Andrew J.
Finkel, Zoe V.
author_facet Irwin, Andrew J.
Finkel, Zoe V.
author_sort Irwin, Andrew J.
collection PubMed
description Chlorophyll biomass in the surface ocean is regulated by a complex interaction of physiological, oceanographic, and ecological factors and in turn regulates the rates of primary production and export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Mechanistic models of phytoplankton responses to climate change require the parameterization of many processes of which we have limited knowledge. We develop a statistical approach to estimate the response of remote-sensed ocean chlorophyll to a variety of physical and chemical variables. Irradiance over the mixed layer depth, surface nitrate, sea-surface temperature, and latitude and longitude together can predict 83% of the variation in log chlorophyll in the North Atlantic. Light and nitrate regulate biomass through an empirically determined minimum function explaining nearly 50% of the variation in log chlorophyll by themselves and confirming that either light or macronutrients are often limiting and that much of the variation in chlorophyll concentration is determined by bottom-up mechanisms. Assuming the dynamics of the future ocean are governed by the same processes at work today, we should be able to apply these response functions to future climate change scenarios, with changes in temperature, nutrient distributions, irradiance, and ocean physics.
format Text
id pubmed-2584232
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2008
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-25842322008-11-27 Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll Irwin, Andrew J. Finkel, Zoe V. PLoS One Research Article Chlorophyll biomass in the surface ocean is regulated by a complex interaction of physiological, oceanographic, and ecological factors and in turn regulates the rates of primary production and export of organic carbon to the deep ocean. Mechanistic models of phytoplankton responses to climate change require the parameterization of many processes of which we have limited knowledge. We develop a statistical approach to estimate the response of remote-sensed ocean chlorophyll to a variety of physical and chemical variables. Irradiance over the mixed layer depth, surface nitrate, sea-surface temperature, and latitude and longitude together can predict 83% of the variation in log chlorophyll in the North Atlantic. Light and nitrate regulate biomass through an empirically determined minimum function explaining nearly 50% of the variation in log chlorophyll by themselves and confirming that either light or macronutrients are often limiting and that much of the variation in chlorophyll concentration is determined by bottom-up mechanisms. Assuming the dynamics of the future ocean are governed by the same processes at work today, we should be able to apply these response functions to future climate change scenarios, with changes in temperature, nutrient distributions, irradiance, and ocean physics. Public Library of Science 2008-11-27 /pmc/articles/PMC2584232/ /pubmed/19043583 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836 Text en Irwin et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Irwin, Andrew J.
Finkel, Zoe V.
Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll
title Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll
title_full Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll
title_fullStr Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll
title_full_unstemmed Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll
title_short Mining a Sea of Data: Deducing the Environmental Controls of Ocean Chlorophyll
title_sort mining a sea of data: deducing the environmental controls of ocean chlorophyll
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2584232/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19043583
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0003836
work_keys_str_mv AT irwinandrewj miningaseaofdatadeducingtheenvironmentalcontrolsofoceanchlorophyll
AT finkelzoev miningaseaofdatadeducingtheenvironmentalcontrolsofoceanchlorophyll