Changes in organic matter cycling in a plankton community exposed to warming under different light intensities

Abstract

To investigate the combined effect of temperature and light availability on organic matter production and degradation during a winter/spring phytoplankton bloom in Kiel Bight, we conducted a mesocosm study applying two temperature regimes, ambient (T + 0) and plus 6°C (T + 6) and three irradiance levels. Rising temperature accelerated the onset of the phytoplankton bloom, while light intensity played only a minor role for the timing and bloom development. Maximum build-up of chlorophyll a and particulate organic carbon were ∼20% lower at T + 6 compared with T + 0, probably caused by a combination of elevated heterotrophic processes and enhanced sedimentation during the bloom. The latter is supported by increased TEP concentrations at T + 6 (TEP/POC 0.18 mol C/mol C) compared with T + 0 (0.11 mol C/mol C) during bloom conditions, which may have promoted cell aggregation and sinking. Dissolved organic carbon concentrations increased more rapidly at elevated temperature. For a warmer future ocean, we can hence expect two counteracting mechanisms controlling organic matter flow during phytoplankton blooms: (1) enhanced processing of organic matter via the microbial loop resulting in a faster recycling and (2) depending on the dominating phytoplankton species, enhanced TEP formation resulting in increased particle aggregation and thus export of carbon and nutrients.