Phytoplankton Responses to Ocean Climate Change Drivers: Interaction of Ocean Warming, Ocean Acidification and UV Exposure

Abstract

Phytoplankton biomass productivity is governed by a number of external factors, such as availability of solar radiation which restricts the organisms to the photic zone defined by its lower limit where the surface irradiance is attenuated to 1%. Phytoplankton productivity is affected by numerous environmental factors augmented by climate change including temperature increase, ocean acidification and excessive solar visible and ultraviolet radiation. These anthropogenically induced rapid changes alter habitats and phytoplankton communities with far reaching consequences for the extended oceanic food webs affecting the sustainable development of resources for a rapidly increasing human population. Ocean warming can mitigate the damage inflicted by ultraviolet (UV) radiation because it augments the synthesis of UV-absorbing pigments and the enzymatic repair mechanisms for DNA and photosynthesis;increased nutrient concentrations augment this process. Studies on the interactive effects of ocean acidification, elevated temperatures and UV radiation in phytoplankton are rare.