Abstract
The Arctic Ocean is warming at two to three times the global rate1 and is perceived to be a bellwether for ocean acidification2,3. Increased CO2 concentrations are expected to have a fertilization effect on marine autotrophs4, and higher temperatures should lead to increased rates of planktonic primary production5. Yet, simultaneous assessment of warming and increased CO2 on primary production in the Arctic has not been conducted. Here we test the expectation that CO2-enhanced gross primary production (GPP) may be temperature dependent, using data from several oceanographic cruises and experiments from both spring and summer in the European sector of the Arctic Ocean. Results confirm that CO2 enhances GPP (by a factor of up to ten) over a range of 145–2,099 μatm; however, the greatest effects are observed only at lower temperatures and are constrained by nutrient and light availability to the spring period. The temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production has significant implications for metabolic balance in a warmer, CO2-enriched Arctic Ocean in the future. In particular, it indicates that a twofold increase in primary production during the spring is likely in the Arctic.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$209.00 per year
only $17.42 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
Change history
08 September 2015
In the version of this Letter originally published online, the following should have been included in the Acknowledgements: 'M.S.-M. was funded by Fundación 'La Caixa' PhD grants (Spain).' This error has been corrected in all versions of the Letter.
References
Trenberth, K. E. et al. in IPCC Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis (eds Solomon, S. et al.) 236–336 (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2007).
Bates, N. R. & Mathis, J. T. The Arctic Ocean marine carbon cycle: Evaluation of air–sea CO2 exchanges, ocean acidification impacts and potential feedbacks. Biogeosciences 6, 2433–2459 (2009).
Steinacher, M., Joos, F., Frölicher, T. L., Plattner, G.-K. & Doney, S. C. Imminent ocean acidification in the Arctic projected with the NCAR global coupled carbon cycle-climate model. Biogeosciences 6, 515–533 (2009).
Hein, M. & Sand-Jensen, K. CO2 increases oceanic primary production. Nature 388, 526–527 (1997).
Brown, J. H., Gillooly, J. F., Allen, A. P., Savage, V. M. & West, G. B. Towards a metabolic theory of ecology. Ecology 85, 1771–1789 (2004).
Watson, R., Zeller, D. & Pauly, D. Primary productivity demands of global fishing fleets. Fish Fish. 15, 231–241 (2013).
Arrigo, K. R., van Dijken, G. & Pabi, S. Impact of a shrinking Arctic ice cover on marine primary production. Geophys. Res. Lett. 35, L19603 (2008).
Wassmann, P., Carroll, J. & Bellerby, R. Carbon flux and ecosystem feedback in the northern Barents Sea in an era of climate change: An introduction. Deep Sea Res. II 55, 2143–2153 (2008).
Bates, N. R., Moran, S. B., Hansell, D. A. & Mathis, J. T. An increasing CO2 sink in the Arctic Ocean due to sea-ice loss. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L23609 (2006).
Rysgaard, S., Glud, R. N., Sejr, M. K., Bendtsen, J. & Christensen, P. B. Inorganic carbon transport during sea ice growth and decay: A carbon pump in polar seas. J. Geophys. Res. 112, C03016 (2007).
Takahashi, T. et al. Global sea–air CO2 flux based on climatological surface ocean p CO 2, and seasonal biological and temperature effects. Deep Sea Res. II 49, 1601–1622 (2002).
Arrigo, K. R. et al. Massive phytoplankton blooms under Arctic sea ice. Science 336, 1408 (2012).
Vaquer-Sunyer, R. et al. Seasonal patterns in Arctic planktonic metabolism (Fram Strait—Svalbard region). Biogeosciences 10, 1451–1469 (2013).
Popova, E. E., Yool, A., Aksenov, Y., Coward, A. C. & Anderson, T. R. Regional variability of acidification in the Arctic: A sea of contrasts. Biogeosciences 11, 293–308 (2014).
Popova, E. E. et al. What controls primary production in the Arctic Ocean? Results from an intercomparison of five general circulation models with biogeochemistry. J. Geophys. Res. 117, C00D12 (2012).
Engel, A. et al. CO2 increases 14C primary production in an Arctic plankton community. Biogeosciences 10, 1291–1308 (2013).
Rost, B., Riebesell, U., Burkhardt, S. & Sültemeyer, D. Carbon acquisition of bloom-forming marine phytoplankton. Limnol. Oceanogr. 48, 55–67 (2003).
Riebesell, U., Wolf-Gladrow, D. & Smetacek, V. Carbon dioxide limitation of marine phytoplankton growth rates. Nature 361, 249–251 (1993).
Holding, J. M. et al. Experimentally determined temperature thresholds for Arctic plankton community metabolism. Biogeosciences 10, 357–370 (2013).
Tremblay, J.-E., Michel, C., Hobson, K. A., Gosselin, M. & Price, N. M. Bloom dynamics in early opening waters of the Arctic Ocean. Limnol. Oceanogr. 51, 900–912 (2006).
Bakker, D. C. E. et al. An update to the Surface Ocean CO2 Atlas (SOCAT version 2). Earth Syst. Sci. Data 6, 69–90 (2014).
Dunne, J. A., Saleska, S. R., Fischer, M. L. & Harte, J. Integrating experimental and gradient methods in ecological climate change research. Ecology 85, 904–916 (2004).
Reinfelder, J. R. Carbon concentrating mechanisms in eukaryotic marine phytoplankton. Annu. Rev. Mar. Sci. 3, 291–315 (2011).
Sett, S. et al. Temperature modulates coccolithophorid sensitivity of growth, photosynthesis and calcification to increasing seawater p CO 2 . PLoS ONE 9, e88308 (2014).
Pomeroy, L. R. & Wiebe, W. J. Temperature and substrates as interactive limiting factors for marine heterotrophic bacteria. Aquat. Microb. Ecol. 23, 187–204 (2001).
Wassmann, P. Arctic marine ecosystems in an era of rapid climate change. Prog. Oceanogr. 90, 1–17 (2011).
Slagstad, D., Ellingsen, I. H. & Wassmann, P. Evaluating primary and secondary production in an Arctic Ocean void of summer sea ice: An experimental simulation approach. Prog. Oceanogr. 90, 117–131 (2011).
Lien, V. S., Vikebø, F. B. & Skagseth, O. One mechanism contributing to co-variability of the Atlantic inflow branches to the Arctic. Nature Commun. 4, 1488 (2013).
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Arctic Tipping Points project (http://www.eu-atp.org), funded by the Framework Program 7 of the European Union (no. 226248), the ATOS and ARCTICMET projects, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (no. POL2006-00550/CTM and CTM2011-15792-E, respectively), and the CARBONBRIDGE project, funded by the Norwegian Research Council (no. 226415). We thank M. A.-Rodriguez for providing estimates from cruises, P. Carrillo and A. Dorrsett for help with carbonate system analyses, R. Gutiérrez for chlorophyll a analyses, J. C. Alonso and S. Kristiansen for nutrient analyses, E. Halvorsen for logistical support, the captains and crews of the RV Viking Explorer and the RV Helmer Hanssen, and the University Center in Svalbard (UNIS) for accommodation, laboratory space and technical support. J.M.H. was supported by a JAE fellowship (CSIC, Spain). M.S.-M. was funded by Fundación 'La Caixa' PhD grants (Spain).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
C.M.D., J.M.A., I.E.H., M.S.-M., M.R., P.W. and S.A. were responsible for experimental design. J.M.A. led and oversaw the summer experiment. M.S.-M. was responsible for running the spring experiment. M.C. was responsible for carbonate system measurements during the spring 2014 experiment and cruise, and E.M. and A.D. were responsible for 18O measurements. L.S.G.-C., M.S.-M. and A.R.-d.-G. contributed metabolism data from oceanographic cruises. J.M.H. was responsible for running the summer experiment as well as all data analysis and writing of the manuscript. All authors, especially C.M.D., contributed to the writing and editing of the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing financial interests.
Supplementary information
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Holding, J., Duarte, C., Sanz-Martín, M. et al. Temperature dependence of CO2-enhanced primary production in the European Arctic Ocean. Nature Clim Change 5, 1079–1082 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2768
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2768
This article is cited by
-
Short-term effects of winter warming and acidification on phytoplankton growth and mortality: more losers than winners in a temperate coastal lagoon
Hydrobiologia (2021)
-
Silicic acid limitation drives bloom termination and potential carbon sequestration in an Arctic bloom
Scientific Reports (2019)
-
Compensation of ocean acidification effects in Arctic phytoplankton assemblages
Nature Climate Change (2018)
-
Resistance of Arctic phytoplankton to ocean acidification and enhanced irradiance
Polar Biology (2018)
-
Individual and interactive effects of ocean acidification, global warming, and UV radiation on phytoplankton
Journal of Applied Phycology (2018)