References

ESSD

Earth System Science Data

ESSD

Earth Syst. Sci. Data

1866-3516

Copernicus Publications

Göttingen, Germany

10.5194/essd-5-227-2013

MAREDAT: towards a world atlas of MARine Ecosystem DATa

Buitenhuis

E. T.

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6274-5583

¹ Vogt

² Moriarty

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1993-1756

³ Bednaršek

⁴ Doney

S. C.

⁵ Leblanc

⁶ Le Quéré

¹ Luo

Y.-W.

⁵ O'Brien

² O'Brien

⁷ Peloquin

² Schiebel

⁸ Swan

Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, UK

Environmental Physics, Institute for Biogeochemistry and Pollutant Dynamics, ETH Zürich, Universitätsstrasse 16, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland

School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, University of Manchester, Williamson Building, Oxford Road, Manchester M13 9PL, UK

NOAA Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115, USA

Department of Marine Chemistry and Geochemistry, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543, USA

Aix-Marseille Université, Université du Sud Toulon-Var, CNRS/INSU, IRD, MIO, UM110, 13288 Marseille, Cedex 09, France

National Marine Fisheries Service, 1315 East–West Highway, Silver Spring, Maryland, USA

LUNAM University, Angers University, UMR CNRS 6112 LPGN-BIAF, Laboratoire des Bio-Indicateurs Actuels et Fossiles, 2 Boulevard Lavoisier, 49045 Angers CEDEX 01, France

12 07 2013

5 2 227 239

2013

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this licence, visit https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

This article is available from https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/5/227/2013/essd-5-227-2013.html

The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://essd.copernicus.org/articles/5/227/2013/essd-5-227-2013.pdf

We present a summary of biomass data for 11 plankton functional types (PFTs) plus phytoplankton pigment data, compiled as part of the MARine Ecosystem biomass DATa (MAREDAT) initiative. The goal of the MAREDAT initiative is to provide, in due course, global gridded data products with coverage of all planktic components of the global ocean ecosystem. This special issue is the first step towards achieving this. The PFTs presented here include picophytoplankton, diazotrophs, coccolithophores, Phaeocystis, diatoms, picoheterotrophs, microzooplankton, foraminifers, mesozooplankton, pteropods and macrozooplankton. All variables have been gridded onto a World Ocean Atlas (WOA) grid (1° × 1° × 33 vertical levels × monthly climatologies). The results show that abundance is much better constrained than their carbon content/elemental composition, and coastal seas and other high productivity regions have much better coverage than the much larger volumes where biomass is relatively low. The data show that (1) the global total heterotrophic biomass (2.0–4.6 Pg C) is at least as high as the total autotrophic biomass (0.5–2.4 Pg C excluding nanophytoplankton and autotrophic dinoflagellates); (2) the biomass of zooplankton calcifiers (0.03–0.67 Pg C) is substantially higher than that of coccolithophores (0.001–0.03 Pg C); (3) patchiness of biomass distribution increases with organism size; and (4) although zooplankton biomass measurements below 200 m are rare, the limited measurements available suggest that Bacteria and Archaea are not the only important heterotrophs in the deep sea. More data will be needed to characterise ocean ecosystem functioning and associated biogeochemistry in the Southern Hemisphere and below 200 m. Future efforts to understand marine ecosystem composition and functioning will be helped both by further archiving of historical data and future sampling at new locations. Microzooplankton database: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.779970"target="_blank">doi:10.1594/PANGAEA.779970</a> All MAREDAT databases: <a href="http://www.pangaea.de/search?&q=maredat"target="_blank">http://www.pangaea.de/search?&q=maredat</a>

References 1

Agustí, S.: Ubiquitous presence of healthy phytoplankton cells in the deep ocean, ASLO ocean sciences meeting, 2012.

Alvain, S., Moulin, C., Dandonneau, Y., and Breon, F. M.: Remote sensing of phytoplankton groups in case 1 waters from global SeaWiFS imagery, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. I, 52, 1989–2004, 2005.

Aumont, O., Maier-Reimer, E., Blain, S., and Monfray, P.: An ecosystem model of the global ocean including Fe, Si, P co-limitations, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 17, 1060, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2001GB001745">https://doi.org/10.1029/2001GB001745</a>, 2003.

Barton, A. D., Pershing, A. J., Litchman, E., Record, N. R., Edwards, K. F., Finkel, Z. V., Kiorboe, T., and Ward, B. A.: The biogeography of marine plankton traits, Ecol. Lett., 16, 522–534, 2013.

Bednaršek, N., Možina, J., Vogt, M., O'Brien, C., and Tarling, G. A.: The global distribution of pteropods and their contribution to carbonate and carbon biomass in the modern ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 167–186, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-167-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-167-2012</a>, 2012.

Buitenhuis, E. T., Rivkin, R. B., Sailley, S., and Le Quere, C.: Biogeochemical fluxes through microzooplankton, Global Biogeochem. Cy., 24, GB4015, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2009GB003601">https://doi.org/10.1029/2009GB003601</a>, 2010.

Buitenhuis, E. T., Li, W. K. W., Vaulot, D., Lomas, M. W., Landry, M. R., Partensky, F., Karl, D. M., Ulloa, O., Campbell, L., Jacquet, S., Lantoine, F., Chavez, F., Macias, D., Gosselin, M., and McManus, G. B.: Picophytoplankton biomass distribution in the global ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 37–46, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-37-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-37-2012</a>, 2012a.

Buitenhuis, E. T., Li, W. K. W., Lomas, M. W., Karl, D. M., Landry, M. R., and Jacquet, S.: Picoheterotroph (Bacteria and Archaea) biomass distribution in the global ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 101–106, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-101-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-101-2012</a>, 2012b.

Buitenhuis, E. T., Hashioka, T. and Le Quéré, C.: Combined constraints on global ocean primary production using observations and models, Global Biogeochem. Cy., <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2012GB004516">https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GB004516</a>, submitted, 2013.

Carpenter, E. J.: Physiology and Ecology of Marine Planktonic Oscillatoria (Trichodesmium), Mar. Biol. Lett., 4, 69–85, 1983.

Cortes, M. Y., Bollmann, J., and Thierstein, H. R.: Coccolithophore ecology at the HOT station ALOHA, Hawaii, Deep-Sea Res. Pt. II, 48, 1957–1981, 2001.

Doney, S. C., Lima, I., Moore, J. K., Lindsay, K., Behrenfeld, M. J., Westberry, T. K., Mahowald, N., Glover, D. M., and Takahashi, T.: Skill metrics for confronting global upper ocean ecosystem-biogeochemistry models against field and remote sensing data, J. Marine Syst., 76, 95–112, 2009.

Folt, C. L. and Burns, C. W.: Biological drivers of zooplankton patchiness, Trends Ecol. Evol., 14, 300–305, 1999.

Gasol, J. M., del Giorgio, P. A., and Duarte, C. M.: Biomass distribution in marine planktonic communities, Limnol. Oceanogr., 42, 1353–1363, 1997.

Geider, R. J., MacIntyre, H. L., and Kana, T. M.: Dynamic model of phytoplankton growth and acclimation: responses of the balanced growth rate and the chlorophyll a: carbon ratio to light, nutrient-limitation and temperature, Mar. Ecol.-Progr. Ser., 148, 187–200, 1997.

Glover, D. M., Jenkins, W. J., and Doney, S. C.: Modeling Methods for Marine Science, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2011.

Haidar, A. T. and Thierstein, H. R.: Coccolithophore dynamics off Bermuda (N. Atlantic), Deep-Sea Res. Pt. II, 48, 1925–1956, 2001.

Henderiks, J. and Pagani, M.: Refining ancient carbon dioxide estimates: Significance of coccolithophore cell size for alkenone-based pCO2 records, Paleoceanography, 22, PA3202, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2006PA001399">https://doi.org/10.1029/2006PA001399</a>, 2007.

Higgins, H., Wright, S., and Schluter, L.: Quantitative interpretation of chemotaxonomic pigment data, in: Phytoplankton Pigments: Characterization, Chemotaxonomy and Applications in Oceanography, edited by: Roy, S., Llewellyn, C., Egeland, E., and Johnsen, G., Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Hirst, A. G. and Bunker, A. J.: Growth of marine planktonic copepods: global rates and patterns in relation to chlorophyll a, temperature, and body weight, Limnol. Oceanogr., 48, 1988–2010, 2003.

Laursen, L.: Malaspina expedition: starting with a splash, Nature News Blog, <a href="http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/02/malaspina_expedition_starting.html">http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/02/malaspina_expedition_starting.html</a>, 2011.

Leblanc, K., Arístegui, J., Armand, L., Assmy, P., Beker, B., Bode, A., Breton, E., Cornet, V., Gibson, J., Gosselin, M.-P., Kopczynska, E., Marshall, H., Peloquin, J., Piontkovski, S., Poulton, A. J., Quéguiner, B., Schiebel, R., Shipe, R., Stefels, J., van Leeuwe, M. A., Varela, M., Widdicombe, C., and Yallop, M.: A global diatom database – abundance, biovolume and biomass in the world ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 149–165, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-149-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-149-2012</a>, 2012.

Le Quéré, C. and Pésant, S.: Plankton Functional Types in a new generation of biogeochemical models, EOS, 90, 30–31, 2009.

Le Quéré, C., Harrison, S. P., Prentice, I. C., Buitenhuis, E. T., Aumont, O., Bopp, L., Claustre, H., Da Cunha, L. C., Geider, R., Giraud, X., Klaas, C., Kohfeld, K. E., Legendre, L., Manizza, M., Platt, T., Rivkin, R. B., Sathyendranath, S., Uitz, J., Watson, A. J., and Wolf-Gladrow, D.: Ecosystem dynamics based on plankton functional types for global ocean biogeochemistry models, Glob. Change Biol., 11, 2016–2040, 2005.

Luo, Y.-W., Doney, S. C., Anderson, L. A., Benavides, M., Berman-Frank, I., Bode, A., Bonnet, S., Boström, K. H., Böttjer, D., Capone, D. G., Carpenter, E. J., Chen, Y. L., Church, M. J., Dore, J. E., Falcón, L. I., Fernández, A., Foster, R. A., Furuya, K., Gómez, F., Gundersen, K., Hynes, A. M., Karl, D. M., Kitajima, S., Langlois, R. J., LaRoche, J., Letelier, R. M., Marañón, E., McGillicuddy Jr., D. J., Moisander, P. H., Moore, C. M., Mouriño-Carballido, B., Mulholland, M. R., Needoba, J. A., Orcutt, K. M., Poulton, A. J., Rahav, E., Raimbault, P., Rees, A. P., Riemann, L., Shiozaki, T., Subramaniam, A., Tyrrell, T., Turk-Kubo, K. A., Varela, M., Villareal, T. A., Webb, E. A., White, A. E., Wu, J., and Zehr, J. P.: Database of diazotrophs in global ocean: abundance, biomass and nitrogen fixation rates, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 47–73, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-47-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-47-2012</a>, 2012.

Luo, Y.-W., Lima, I. D., Karl, D. M., and Doney, S. C.: Data-based assessment of environmental controls on global marine nitrogen fixation, Biogeosciences Discuss., 10, 7367–7412, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/bgd-10-7367-2013">https://doi.org/10.5194/bgd-10-7367-2013</a>, 2013.

MacArthur, R. H. and Wilson, E. O.: The theory of island biogeography, Princeton University Press, 1967.

Mackas, D. L., Denman, K. L., and Abbott, M. R.: Plankton patchiness: biology in the physical vernacular, B. Mar. Sci., 37, 652–674, 1985.

Mackey, M. D., Mackey, D. J., Higgins, H. W., and Wright, S. W.: CHEMTAX – A program for estimating class abundances from chemical markers: Application to HPLC measurements of phytoplankton, Mar. Ecol.-Prog. Ser., 144, 265–283, 1996.

Moriarty, R., Buitenhuis, E. T., Le Quéré, C., and Gosselin, M.-P.: Distribution of known macrozooplankton abundance and biomass in the global ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 241–257, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-241-2013">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-241-2013</a>, 2013.

O'Brien, C. J., Peloquin, J. A., Vogt, M., Heinle, M., Gruber, N., Ajani, P., Andruleit, H., Arístegui, J., Beaufort, L., Estrada, M., Karentz, D., Kopczyn'ska, E., Lee, R., Poulton, A. J., Pritchard, T., and Widdicombe, C.: Global marine plankton functional type biomass distributions: coccolithophores, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 259–276, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-259-2013">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-259-2013</a>, 2013.

O'Brien, T. D., Conkright, M. E., Boyer, T. P., Stephens, C., Antonov, J. I., Locarnini, R. A., and Garcia, H. E.: World Ocean Atlas 2001, Volume 5: Plankton, NOAA Atlas NESDIS 53, edited by: Levitus, S., US Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 95 pp., available at: <a href="http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/indpub.html#pub2002">http://www.nodc.noaa.gov/OC5/indpub.html#pub2002</a>, 2002.

Odum, E. P.: Fundamentals of Ecology, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 574 pp., 1971.

Peloquin, J., Swan, C., Gruber, N., Vogt, M., Claustre, H., Ras, J., Uitz, J., Barlow, R., Behrenfeld, M., Bidigare, R., Dierssen, H., Ditullio, G., Fernandez, E., Gallienne, C., Gibb, S., Goericke, R., Harding, L., Head, E., Holligan, P., Hooker, S., Karl, D., Landry, M., Letelier, R., Llewellyn, C. A., Lomas, M., Lucas, M., Mannino, A., Marty, J.-C., Mitchell, B. G., Muller-Karger, F., Nelson, N., O'Brien, C., Prezelin, B., Repeta, D., Jr. Smith, W. O., Smythe-Wright, D., Stumpf, R., Subramaniam, A., Suzuki, K., Trees, C., Vernet, M., Wasmund, N., and Wright, S.: The MAREDAT global database of high performance liquid chromatography marine pigment measurements, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 5, 109–123, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-109-2013">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-5-109-2013</a>, 2013.

Pinel-Alloul, B.: Spatial Heterogeneity as a Multiscale Characteristic of Zooplankton Community, 2nd International Joint Conference on Limnology and Oceanography, Evian, France, 17–42, 1993.

Retailleau, S., Howa, H., Schiebel, R., Lombard, F., Eynaud, F., Schmidt, S., Jorissen, F., and Labeyrie, L.: Planktic foraminiferal production along an offshore-onshore transect in the south-eastern Bay of Biscay, Cont. Shelf Res., 29, 1123–1135, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2008.12.021">https://doi.org/10.1016/j.csr.2008.12.021</a>, 2009.

Schiebel, R. and Movellan, A.: First-order estimate of the planktic foraminifer biomass in the modern ocean, Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 75–89, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-75-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-75-2012</a>, 2012.

Schmidt, D. N., Thierstein, H. R., Bollmann, J., and Schiebel, R.: Abiotic forcing of plankton evolution in the Cenozoic, Science, 303, 207–210, 2004.

Shipe, R. F., Brzezinski, M., Pilskaln, C. H., and Villareal, T. A.: Rhizosolenia mats: An overlooked source of silica production in the open sea, Limnol. Oceanogr., 44, 1282–1292, 1999.

Uitz, J., Claustre, H., Morel, A., and Hooker, S. B.: Vertical distribution of phytoplankton communities in open ocean: An assessment based on surface chlorophyll, J. Geophys. Res.-Oceans, 111, C08005, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2005JC003207">https://doi.org/10.1029/2005JC003207</a>, 2006.

Van den Meersche, K., Soetaert, K., and Middelburg, J. J.: A Bayesian compositional estimator for microbial taxonomy based on biomarkers, Limnol. Oceanogr.-Meth., 6, 190–199, 2008.

Vogt, M., O'Brien, C., Peloquin, J., Schoemann, V., Breton, E., Estrada, M., Gibson, J., Karentz, D., Van Leeuwe, M. A., Stefels, J., Widdicombe, C., and Peperzak, L.: Global marine plankton functional type biomass distributions: Phaeocystis spp., Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 4, 107–120, <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-107-2012">https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-4-107-2012</a>, 2012.