Phytoplankton diversity explained by connectivity across a mesoscale frontal system in the open ocean

Jørgen Bendtsen*, Lykke Laura Sørensen, Niels Daugbjerg, Nina Lundholm, Katherine Richardson

*Corresponding author af dette arbejde

Publikation: Bidrag til tidsskriftTidsskriftartikelForskningpeer review

2 Citationer (Scopus)
27 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Phytoplankton community composition is important in establishing ecosystem structure and function. Intuitively, we recognize that water movements must be important for modifying spatial gradients and plankton diversity. However, identifying boundaries and exchange between habitats in the open ocean is not straightforward. Here, we use the abundance of nine phytoplankton species closely sampled in a mesoscale frontal system in the northeastern North Sea as a proxy for community composition and explore the relationship between phytoplankton biogeography and transport patterns. Subsurface community distributions could be related to modeled patterns in water movement. A methodology for analyzing pelagic diversity that includes a representation of plankton community composition and an Eulerian connectivity tracer was developed, and the relative importance of connectivity and geographical distance for phytoplankton species composition analyzed. The connectivity tracer identifies timescales and dispersal barriers in the open ocean. Connectivity was found to be superior in explaining pelagic plankton diversity and found to be a prerequisite for understanding the pelagic phytoplankton composition. This approach is a valuable tool for establishing the link between ocean transports, ecosystem structure and biodiversity and for informing the placement of marine protected areas.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
Artikelnummer12117
TidsskriftScientific Reports
Vol/bind13
Antal sider12
ISSN2045-2322
DOI
StatusUdgivet - 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
This study was supported by the Velux Foundations (grant no. 00013281). The VERMIX cruise was also supported by funding for ship-time by the Danish Centre for Marine Research. This study has been conducted using E.U. Copernicus Marine Service Information and data from the Copernicus Data Store.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

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