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Gittings, JA, Raitsos, DE, Krokos, G and Hoteit, I 2018 Impacts of warming on phytoplankton abundance and phenology in a typical tropical marine ecosystem. Scientific Reports, 8 (1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-018-20560-5
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Abstract/Summary
In the tropics, thermal stratification (during warm conditions) may contribute to a shallowing of the mixed layer above the nutricline and a reduction in the transfer of nutrients to the surface lit-layer, ultimately limiting phytoplankton growth. Using remotely sensed observations and modelled datasets, we study such linkages in the northern Red Sea (NRS) - a typical tropical marine ecosystem. We assess the interannual variability (1998–2015) of both phytoplankton biomass and phenological indices (timing of bloom initiation, duration and termination) in relation to regional warming. We demonstrate that warmer conditions in the NRS are associated with substantially weaker winter phytoplankton blooms, which initiate later, terminate earlier and are shorter in their overall duration (~ 4 weeks). These alterations are directly linked with the strength of atmospheric forcing (air-sea heat fluxes) and vertical stratification (mixed layer depth [MLD]). The interannual variability of sea surface temperature (SST) is found to be a good indicator of phytoplankton abundance, but appears to be less important for predicting bloom timing. These findings suggest that future climate warming scenarios may have a two-fold impact on phytoplankton growth in tropical marine ecosystems: 1) a reduction in phytoplankton abundance and 2) alterations in the timing of seasonal phytoplankton blooms.
| Item Type: | Publication - Article |
|---|---|
| Subjects: | Earth Observation - Remote Sensing Ecology and Environment Oceanography |
| Divisions: | Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Earth Observation Science and Applications Plymouth Marine Laboratory > Science Areas > Sea from Space (expired) |
| Depositing User: | Dr Dionysios Raitsos |
| Date made live: | 10 Feb 2018 12:01 |
| Last Modified: | 25 Apr 2020 09:59 |
| URI: | https://plymsea.ac.uk/id/eprint/7808 |
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