In:
Nature, Springer Science and Business Media LLC, Vol. 621, No. 7978 ( 2023-09-14), p. 330-335
Abstract:
Projected responses of ocean net primary productivity to climate change are highly uncertain 1 . Models suggest that the climate sensitivity of phytoplankton nutrient limitation in the low-latitude Pacific Ocean plays a crucial role 1–3 , but this is poorly constrained by observations 4 . Here we show that changes in physical forcing drove coherent fluctuations in the strength of equatorial Pacific iron limitation through multiple El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) cycles, but that this was overestimated twofold by a state-of-the-art climate model. Our assessment was enabled by first using a combination of field nutrient-addition experiments, proteomics and above-water hyperspectral radiometry to show that phytoplankton physiological responses to iron limitation led to approximately threefold changes in chlorophyll-normalized phytoplankton fluorescence. We then exploited the 〉 18-year satellite fluorescence record to quantify climate-induced nutrient limitation variability. Such synoptic constraints provide a powerful approach for benchmarking the realism of model projections of net primary productivity to climate changes.
Type of Medium:
Online Resource
ISSN:
0028-0836
,
1476-4687
DOI:
10.1038/s41586-023-06439-0
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Publication Date:
2023
detail.hit.zdb_id:
120714-3
detail.hit.zdb_id:
1413423-8
SSG:
11
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