Why marine phytoplankton calcify

Calcifying marine phytoplankton-coccolithophores- are some of the most successful yet enigmatic organisms in the ocean and are at risk from global change. To better understand how they will be affected, we need to know "why" coccolithophores calcify. We review coccolithophorid evolutionary...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science advances 2016-07, Vol.2 (7), p.e1501822-e1501822
Main Authors: Monteiro, Fanny M, Bach, Lennart T, Brownlee, Colin, Bown, Paul, Rickaby, Rosalind E M, Poulton, Alex J, Tyrrell, Toby, Beaufort, Luc, Dutkiewicz, Stephanie, Gibbs, Samantha, Gutowska, Magdalena A, Lee, Renee, Riebesell, Ulf, Young, Jeremy, Ridgwell, Andy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Calcification, Physiologic - physiology
Calcium Carbonate - chemistry
Earth Sciences
Ecosystem
Global Warming
Haptophyta - metabolism
Hydrogen-Ion Concentration
Marine Biology
Oceans and Seas
Photosynthesis
Review
Reviews
SciAdv reviews
Sciences of the Universe
Seawater - chemistry
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Summary:Calcifying marine phytoplankton-coccolithophores- are some of the most successful yet enigmatic organisms in the ocean and are at risk from global change. To better understand how they will be affected, we need to know "why" coccolithophores calcify. We review coccolithophorid evolutionary history and cell biology as well as insights from recent experiments to provide a critical assessment of the costs and benefits of calcification. We conclude that calcification has high energy demands and that coccolithophores might have calcified initially to reduce grazing pressure but that additional benefits such as protection from photodamage and viral/bacterial attack further explain their high diversity and broad spectrum ecology. The cost-benefit aspect of these traits is illustrated by novel ecosystem modeling, although conclusive observations remain limited. In the future ocean, the trade-off between changing ecological and physiological costs of calcification and their benefits will ultimately decide how this important group is affected by ocean acidification and global warming.
ISSN:2375-2548
2375-2548
DOI:10.1126/sciadv.1501822