Abstract
Abstract. The planktonic haptophyte Phaeocystis has been suggested to play a fundamental role in the global biogeochemical cycling of carbon and sulphur, but little is known about its global biomass distribution. We have collected global microscopy data of the genus Phaeocystis and converted abundance data to carbon biomass using species-specific carbon conversion factors. Microscopic counts of single-celled and colonial Phaeocystis were obtained both through the mining of online databases and by accepting direct submissions (both published and unpublished) from Phaeocystis specialists. We recorded abundance data from a total of 1595 depth-resolved stations sampled between 1955–2009. The quality-controlled dataset includes 5057 counts of individual Phaeocystis cells resolved to species level and information regarding life-stages from 3526 samples. 83% of stations were located in the Northern Hemisphere while 17% were located in the Southern Hemisphere. Most data were located in the latitude range of 50–70° N. While the seasonal distribution of Northern Hemisphere data was well-balanced, Southern Hemisphere data was biased towards summer months. Mean species- and form-specific cell diameters were determined from previously published studies. Cell diameters were used to calculate the cellular biovolume of Phaeocystis cells, assuming spherical geometry. Cell biomass was calculated using a carbon conversion factor for prymnesiophytes. For colonies, the number of cells per colony was derived from the colony volume. Cell numbers were then converted to carbon concentrations. An estimation of colonial mucus carbon was included a posteriori, assuming a mean colony size for each species. Carbon content per cell ranged from 9 pg C cell−1 (single-celled Phaeocystis antarctica) to 29 pg C cell−1 (colonial Phaeocystis globosa). Non-zero Phaeocystis cell biomasses (without mucus carbon) range from 2.9 × 10−5 to 5.4 × 103 μg C l−1, with a mean of 45.7 μg C l−1 and a median of 3.0 μg C l−1. The highest biomasses occur in the Southern Ocean below 70° S (up to 783.9 μg C l−1) and in the North Atlantic around 50° N (up to 5.4 × 103 μg C l−1). The original and gridded data can be downloaded from PANGAEA, doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.779101.
Highlights
Plankton functional types (PFTs; Le Quereet al., 2005) and marine ecosystem composition are important for the biogeochemical cycling of many abundant elements on Earth, such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur (e.g. Weber and Deutsch, 2010)
Marine ecosystem models based on PFTs (Dynamic Green Ocean Models; DGOMs) have been developed in order to study the lower trophic levels of marine ecosystems and the potential impact of changes in their structure and distribution (Le Quereet al., 2005)
The MARine Ecosystem DATa (MAREDAT) initiative is a community effort to provide marine ecosystem modellers with global biomass distributions for the major PFTs currently represented in marine ecosystem models (Buitenhuis et al, 2012; silicifiers, calcifiers, nitrogen fixers, DMSproducers, picophytoplankton, bacteria, microzooplankton, mesozooplankton and macrozooplankton)
Summary
Plankton functional types (PFTs; Le Quereet al., 2005) and marine ecosystem composition are important for the biogeochemical cycling of many abundant elements on Earth, such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur (e.g. Weber and Deutsch, 2010). Plankton functional types (PFTs; Le Quereet al., 2005) and marine ecosystem composition are important for the biogeochemical cycling of many abundant elements on Earth, such as carbon, nitrogen, and sulphur The haptophyte Phaeocystis has been suggested to play a fundamental role in the global biogeochemical cycling of carbon and sulphur (Le Quereet al., 2005). Our biomass estimates are tailored to suit the needs of the modelling community for marine ecosystem model validation and model development, but they are intended to aid biological oceanographers in the exploration of the relative abundances of different PFTs in the modern ocean and their respective biogeochemical roles, for the study of ecological niches in marine ecosystems and the assessment of marine biodiversity
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