Is there a decline in marine phytoplankton - SPG.pdfVIP

Is there a decline in marine phytoplankton? : Nature : Nature Publishing Group Page 1 of 7 Sitemap Log In Register Current Issue Brief Communications Arising Article NATURE | BRIEF COMMUNICATION ARISING Is there a decline in marine phytoplankton? Abigail McQuatters-Gollop,Philip C. Reid,Martin Edwards,Peter H. Burkill,Claudia Castellani,Sonia Batten,Winfried Gieskes,Doug Beare,Robert R. Bidigare,Erica Head,Rod Johnson,Mati Kahru,J. Anthony Koslow Angelica Pena Nature 472,E6–E7 (14 April 2011) doi:10.1038/nature09950 Received31 August 2010 Accepted 01 February 2011 Published online13 April 2011 Article (July, 2010) Brief Communication Arising (April, 2011) ARISING FROM D. G. Boyce, M. R. Lewis B. Worm Nature 466, 591–596 (2010); Boyce et al. reply Phytoplankton account for approximately 50% of global primary production, form the trophic base of nearly all marine ecosystems, are fundamental in trophic energy transfer and have key roles in climate 1 regulation, carbon sequestration and oxygen production. Boyce et al. compiled a chlorophyll index by combining in situ chlorophyll and Secchi disk depth measurements that spanned a more than 100-year time period and showed a decrease in marine phytoplankton biomass of approximately 1% of the global median per year over the past century. Eight decades of data on phytoplankton biomass collected in the North Atlantic by the Continuous Plankton Recorder (CPR) survey2, however, show an increase in an index of chlorophyll (Phytoplankton Colour Index) in both the Northeast and Northwest Atlantic basins3, 4, 5, 6, 7